To Be Determined
by HopelesslyDevoted27
Summary: (Yes, that is the actual title) Fired from her job, Emily pushes down her pride and ends up working for one of the less than honorable clubs in the city. She needs money, survival is key in Gotham City. When she finds herself falling down a rabbit hole, she realizes just how important survival is and that everyone has an expiration date.
1. Chapter 1

I clearly don't own any of the DC characters (or any DC material in general) or any other well known characters. I simply own my OCs. This is my first time publishing so I appreciate comments and helpful criticism just try not to bash. Since this is my first time publishing, I'm sure there are some errors so for that I apologize. This story is rated M which will be more apparent in future chapters. Thanks!

 _Rain, rain, go away...Highly unlikely,_ Emily thought to herself with a sigh. If there was one constant in this city it was rain and crime. But then again, that's Gotham for you. It wouldn't be an average week in Gotham without gray skies, wet sidewalks, and gun shots. Emily turned over to stare at the ceiling. _Maybe a flashflood will happen_. That was a good enough excuse to call off right? _Pfft._ Rick, who could only be described as a creature from hell, would probably make her find a boat and tell her to paddle her way there.

Suddenly, the harsh noise of her cell ringing filled the room. _Speak of the devil_.

"Hello Rick, how are you this fine Wednesday? I'm doing great since I still have forty-five minutes left of comfy time," She answered, her voice sickly sweet.

"Cut the shit Emily, you're coming in early," he grouched.

"I'm sorry but you didn't say please, besides, Trish is supposed to be there." _Stupid bitch_. "If she said there's a flash flood she's full of shit," she grumbled mildly like small child. When people asked her age she would respond with twenty-seven, an adult, although if she were to be honest with herself, the term adult could be used very loosely.

"Look, I'm not asking, I'm telling you to get your ass in here!" And with that, he hung up. _Who does this dickhead think he is'? Does he really think I'm gonna take this shit?! Oh wait. I'm a twenty seven year old who can't afford to lose my job, that's who he knows I am_. She took a few more minutes to lounge around in bed and listen to the rain, if Trish could call off, then Emily could be a little late.

Forty-five minutes later, she rolled in donning some basic black yoga pants, her chucks, and the stupid green shirt with a smiling pizza on it. Cue snort. A "unifying" uniform, fucking ridiculous would be a better description, that's what all the employees thought. She stopped to look in the mirror hanging in the hall that lead to the kitchen to make sure that she looked mildly like a human being. Black eyeliner, black mascara, check. Vanilla mint chapstick, check. Hair, _eh_ , _it'll have to do,_ she surmised. It wasn't curly, beach wavy, one may call it, and hit a little below her shoulder blades. She learned a long time ago to let it do its thing. Her Gram used to say, "wild hair for a fearless girl." If only she was fearless. She may have had a bigger set of balls then some men but that was simply for survival. They say to make yourself bigger when facing a bear.

"Emily!" She spun around, hand on her chest.

"Jesus Christ, Rick! What's your deal?" Only five minutes into her shift and Rick was already on her nerves.

"Get your ass to the back and set up the banquet room," he grumbled, hitching his thumb towards the back. Said "banquet room" was an ugly room with red walls and low hanging lights. The room itself looked like it was shit out of a mobster movie. Snorting, like a true lady, she rolled her hazel eyes to stop all the comments that were ready to fly from her mouth. It was too early in the day for her to be sassy, and she knew it too. It never hurt to pretend to be a good employee. "Now!" He shouted before storming off.

 _Deep breaths, Em. Deep breaths._

She walked into the kitchen to get everything she would need for the "banquet room" and was met with her only saving grace in this hell hole, that description could be applied to Lenny's Pizzeria or Gotham in general. Take your pick. Jim was standing over the stove in all of his 6'6" glory working on what smelled like alfredo sauce. Jim looked like a surfer who somehow got lost on his way to the coast. His shaggy brown hair fell to his shoulders while two full sleeves covered his arms. The man was gorgeous, it only made sense that he'd be decorated with gorgeous ink. Emily had spent many nights fantasizing about being wrapped in those arms but he was her best friend and they had agreed to not jeopardize that friendship. Gorgeous and a stand-up guy, two things you rarely found in men. Sometimes she wanted to kick herself for agreeing to a platonic relationship.

He looked up at her and gave a wink. "Hey beautiful."

She let a grin break out on her face and followed up with giving him a kiss on his cheek. "So what's up Rick's ass today? He's being more of a douche than usual."

"He didn't tell you who was coming in today?" He asked, brows furrowing. He watched as Emily clicked her nails against the counter and stared up at him with an "obviously not" plastered on her face. "Big Sal and his crew."

 _Great, more of Gotham's finest_ , she thought to herself, once again rolling her eyes. It was a habit she could never break and she believed that one day her eyes just may stay in the back of her head. "Fuck, I don't have the energy for this." She quickly grabbed what she could hold and headed out to set up the room.

"Better drink some coffee." Jim laughed as she walked away, a sway in her hips, as she proudly waved her middle finger at him.

"All I'm saying Jim, is that these dicks better tip well," She bitterly ground out while sipping on her diet coke. The "crew" had taken over an hour to order and if she got called "doll" one more time, she was bound to lose her fucking mind.

"It's not that bad, it's been pretty calm," he replied with a shoulder shrug.

"Yea well, you get to stay back here and cook. Without Trish and Christy, and Andy working the front, I'm the only one waitressing back there." At least Trish had the decency to call off, Christy just didn't show up. _Must be nice being Rick's niece_. She hopped off the counter and rolled her shoulders while looking over at Jim. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a bunch of assholes to wait on." She grabbed her tray and took one last sip of diet coke. _Alright, the sooner I go out there, the sooner they'll be gone_.

"Just do it with a smile, doll."

 _Fucker._ He got another middle finger as she tried to muster the last of her politeness while leaving the kitchen.

The smell of cigar smoke practically slapped Emily. All of the men looked up, some with pure boredom etched on their faces and some with what she could guess would be considered smiles. They honestly just looked tired, except for one. One of the men had a sneer and eyes that seemed to follow her every move. He was built, that was certain and he could have been attractive with his olive skin. He had that salt and pepper hair that was combed back but everything about him screamed sleazy. Alarms weren't going off yet, but they were starting to sound in her head. Shrugging off the bad vibes, she smiled at everyone looking to see if there was anything she could get out the way.

"Any of you guys finished? I can start clearing things out of the way for you," she said with a smile. She could be nice when she wanted to be, even if it was fake as hell. She clearly missed her calling to be an actress. A few of the men grunted in return and she took that as her cue to start taking shit away. As she stood next to Mr. Sleazy, who was actually named Mark, she felt his hand brush up against her thigh. Suddenly the alarms were blaring full force.

"How ya doin doll?"

 _Deep breaths, Em. Deep breaths._ "Well it's been a busy day so I'll be glad when I can go home." She quickly stepped away but his calloused hand latched on right above her elbow and pulled her closer.

"I think that you'd feel much better at my house."

She slammed her tray onto the table and the sound of clattering plates and utensils seemed to bring about an uneasy silence to the room. She could feel everyone's cold eyes inspecting the situation. "I think you should let go of me," she growled. Normally she wouldn't have been so bold but what could really happen in a room full of people? Emily trained her eyes on the table, because she knew the moment she looked up she would do something that she'd most likely regret.

"Make me," he growled at the same time his hand grabbed her ass.

Red. Emily saw red the moment his foul hand caused her balance to shift. Spinning around her fist connected with his face and two things happen. One, a searing pain erupted from her knuckles and shot up her arm. _Son of a bitch,_ she winced in pain. Two, her back met the table and this piece of shit had her pinned. A new found panic started pounding in her chest.

"You're gonna pay for that bitch!" He shouted but before he could make good on his threat, he was yanked away and the next thing she knew, she was staring at Jim's back. She could see that his muscles were strained as he stood his ground, her protector. _Jimmy, thank god,_ she cheered in her head while letting out a fists were clenched, and she watched as his shoulders rose and fell in time with his deep breaths. It was oddly calming and brought her some form of comfort.

"What the hell is going on here!" Rick yelled, taking in the scene.

"That stupid bitch," Mr. Sleezeball growled, "has forgotten her place!"

Emily looked over to Rick with wide eyes while his flickered back and forth between her and Mr. Sleezeball.

"Get out," Rick said, and for once she couldn't have been happier to hear him talk. "Get your shit. I'll mail you your last paycheck." Immediately her head snapped up.

"Excuse me?" "You can't be serious!" Her and Jimmy exclaimed at the same time.

"Leave before I decide to keep your pay and put it towards damages," he grumbled.

"You stupid son of a-" Jimmy's hand covered her mouth and he quickly ushered an irate Emily out of the room and into the kitchen.

"What the fuck, Jimmy!" She screeched, pulling her face away from his hand. _Has everyone lost their fucking minds?_

"Listen, you need that last paycheck. Don't fuck around, just get out of here."

She stared into his eyes and could see that there was no room to argue. Setting her jaw and throwing him an icy glare, she turned to grab her bag and quickly made her way out of that godforsaken place.

As usual, it was raining as she made her way back to the apartment. As she walked, the whole thing finally set in and her anger began to build. _Who the fuck do they think they are? What makes them better than me, for them to talk to me that way,_ she fumed. _That's right_ , she let out a humorless chuckle. _I'm a twenty seven year old working in a pizza shop. Well now I'm a twenty seven year old who used to work at a pizza shop and is now unemployed._ And just as quick as her anger rose, it quickly withered away to disbelief and a strange sense of dread settled in. _Well, fuck me._

 _Rain, rain, go away, come again another day._ A week later and Emily found herself laying in bed counting as many raindrops hitting her window as she could. She had spent the past week searching for jobs but word had spread about the incident and people weren't willing to take her on. Emily had enough money for this month's rent and bills plus a little extra but after that she'd be tapped out. Jimmy had offered millions of times to help out, but pride was one of the few things she had left and she wasn't about to give that up anytime soon. There were a few clubs on the other side of town that she was going to try out, see if any of them would be willing to hire her. They were a little seedier than what she would have liked but at this point being picky was just something she couldn't afford.

 _Do those fuckers own every club on the strip,_ she mentally huffed. The last four clubs had practically kicked her out on her ass as soon as she introduced herself. Sighing, she made her way towards the last place on the list.

Grin & Bare It.

She had saved this one for last hoping that she wouldn't have to resort to it but apparently the universe had other plans. Emily knew who owned the club, you'd have to be a complete moron to not know who owned it. He was somebody you made sure you knew about, you never wanted to be caught off guard when it came to him. And here she was, about to walk into the lion's den.

Emily pulled on the heavy door with a sigh and made her way inside. "Jesus Christ," she mumbled, taking in the environment. Cages hung from the ceiling, no doubt for _exotic dancers,_ while the walls were lined with booths adorned with deep purple leather. A massive dance floor took up the middle of the club and on the far wall, a bar that expanded the entire length. A burly man was sitting on one of the stools looking over a bunch of papers.

She cleared her throat and quickly caught his attention. Pulling her shoulders back, she made her way towards the man. "Excuse me, I'm here about the waitressing position."

"Yea, and what's your name?" He grunted, turning his gaze back to the papers he was previously going over.

"Emily and I have waitressing experience so you wouldn't really need to spend a lot of time training me or anything." He grunted again but didn't even spare her a glance. _Fuck this bullshit._ At this point she was cranky and hungry and in no mood to be disrespected. She had spent the entire day being disrespected and was beyond over it. "You could at least look at me and pretend to take me seriously," she snapped.

He looked up at and barked out a laugh. "Who taught you how to try to woo over a possible employer?"

"Clearly I missed that lesson when I dropped out of high school," She bit out. Normally that wouldn't be something that she disclosed but she was over giving a shit. She met his eyes and refused to back down first. He had a shit eating grin on his face, clearly there was a joke that she wasn't in on. Just then a phone rang and he turned away, simply dismissing her. At that moment, an unsettling feeling settled over her body, like a fine mist. You know, that feeling of being watched but you can't figure out where the eyes are coming from. "Fuck this," she muttered, followed by a defeated sigh. Obviously this was just another waste of time and there was no need for her to stand there like an idiot.

She was almost out the doors when his voice called out, "hey girly!"

"It's Emily."

"Whatever, you're hired...girly."

"Really?" He nodded and before she could stop herself, she rushed over to him and threw her arms around him thanking him profusely. _This is what I've been reduced to, hugging a random stranger just because I got a shitty waitressing job_. Even though it wasn't glamorous, it was going to feed her and at this point she didn't care about anything. "Thank you, Mr. ...?" She trailed off realizing that she never got his name.

"Craig. And don't hug me. You start tomorrow, club opens up at nine, be here at six so we can get you a uniform and show you the ropes."

A simple nod was her reply and she rushed out of the club before she could make a bigger fool out of herself. It wasn't until the fresh air swept over her did she notice that the unsettling feeling finally went away.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again I do not take credit for any characters besides my own OCs

Two weeks had gone by and so far things had been going fairly well for Emily. She got used to her uniform quicker than she thought she would, well she tolerated it. It consisted of all black booty-shorts and a low cut, tight fitting, purple tank top with the bar's name printed right above her left breast. A pair of strappy black heels completed the outfit, much to her dismay. She loved heels but waitressing in them was a bitch so, to prep herself, she spent her time around the apartment doing everything in them. Couldn't be crashing into the ground while at work.

Even from outside, she could hear and feel the music pulsing through the backdoors. For once it wasn't raining and she relished the cool night air and the sense of comfort that it brought. No matter when she started work, the moment she entered into the club, that fine mist of unease settled over her and she couldn't find an explanation. It's not like she could complain, what would she say to Craig? "Hey, can we get this place exorcised?"

With one last breath, she stood and made her way back inside. Exhaustion was slowly starting to creep through her bones and she was beginning to feel it. She was supposed to be off tonight but when Jessie asked if she could cover for her, Emily jumped at the chance. Sure, it meant that she had to work both her section and Jessie's section but it also meant more pay and double the tips; rent was coming up and every dime counted so she quickly made her way to the bar to grab her tray.

"Em, hold on a sec," Craig said as he wiped his hands on a dish towel that was slung over his shoulder. "There's a private party that I need you to cover."

"Isn't there someone else? I'm already covering two sections," she irritably replied.

"Yea well, you've been requested so," he came over and pinched her cheek, "suck it up." Normally her head would have exploded but for some odd reason she liked Craig. He wasn't gross and he wasn't a dick which she appreciated a whole lot. But she also knew that he wasn't one to be fucked with, he was dangerous, that much she could tell and she didn't want to be on the receiving end. He sort of reminded her of a teddy bear, a teddy bear that would blow your brains out.

She grunted in reply and made her way to the stairs in the far corner. The spiral staircase sported a filigree design connecting the railing to the steps and oddly was probably the prettiest thing in this bar in her opinion. Not that it mattered, in her opinion the whole club needed redecorated.

As she reached the top, she could hear the boisterous laughter and crude jokes of several men behind the beaded curtain. _Great,_ she thought to herself, _requested me my ass. More like low man on the totem pole._ She took a deep breath and rolled her neck before continuing through the curtain with a smile plastered on her face, a smile that instantly dropped right along with her stomach.

"Hey doll, happy to see me?"

Everything happened in a blink of an eye. Strong hands roughly wrapped around her arms, her tray clattered against the ground, and she was shoved in front of the man who she had spent the last few weeks trying to forget. "I'm happy to see you. I figured I'd pay you a visit, you know, to see if you remember me," he said with a sneer. "I'm sure you haven't forgotten me, have you?"

Emily slowly shook her head in response. Now was not the time to run her mouth, even she knew that. She figured if she focused on biting her tongue she could ignore how fast her heart was beating.

"I certainly haven't forgotten you." Her eyes never left him as he stood and made his way closer. Suddenly her flight instinct kicked in and she struggled against that hands holding her in place. Emily heard it before she could see it, the back of his hand colliding with her face. "You think you can pull that shit with me? You stupid bitch!"

She flinched back when he screamed in her face, their noses now touching. There wasn't much she could do, she could try screaming but the music was too loud. She tried shaking the man who was holding her but that was a useless endeavor. Another hit slammed into her, this time it was a closed fist and blood started pouring from her lip.

"I'm sorry!" She gasped in pain.

"Oh you're going to be sorry, doll," he sneered. Much like last time, she found herself under him but this time fear was radiating from her inside out and she began to writhe underneath of him.

"Get off!" She shrieked. "I said GET!" the rest of her plea died off before it could pass her lips and that unease that had followed her around seemed to settle over her and she froze.

"Well, well, well. Having fun without me?"

When the man on top of her twisted around to face the interrupter, Emily caught a glimpse of bright green hair and pale skin. Wide eyes met his and time stood still.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Once again, I do not own any DC characters.

Thank you to the people who reviewed! It definitely motivated me to continue the story!

Emily knew that there was always a possibility that she would run into the Joker, he did, after all, own the club. But even after two weeks, she still wasn't prepared to come face to face with the man, at least not in this situation. Mark quickly shoved himself off of Emily and stood up, almost matching the Joker in height.

Emily took this opportunity to scurry away from Mark. It wasn't the best spot to be in, the booth seating was set up in a semi circle and she now sat dead center. Open space to her left, open space to her right, and a small table in the center was all that separated her from the men. She watched as the Joker walked further into the area and she took note that it was only him versus Mark and his four other guys.

"You know how it is J," Mark replied, squaring his shoulders. Emily noted that there was a hint of nervousness that laced his words. "Had some unfinished business with this one."

"And you decided to finish it in my club?" Bored. He sounded bored and Emily wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"She's been a little hard to find, found out she was working here, even though we spread the word to not hire her. Your guy must have missed the memo," Mark answered, trying to show some sort of dominance. _Idiot,_ Emily thought to herself.

"Memo?" Joker barked out a laugh and walked further into the room. His eyes landed on Emily and she couldn't look away. She kept her eyes on him, senses heightened like prey being stalked. She could practically feel her heart in her throat as she realized what he was doing. Eyes wide, she watched as he got closer and plopped down right next to her. His left arm was draped behind her, resting on the back of the seat, allowing her to fit right next to him. His proximity was making her stomach knot but she refused to move. Her legs were curled under her so it made it easier for his legs to spread out wide in front of him.

 _If this wasn't so fucked up, we would look like a normal couple. He even smells good._ She let her eyes fall to her hands and let out a barely audible, breathy giggle. _This is it, I'm going crazy_. The Joker hummed at her reaction causing her to look over at him again. His eyes were slightly narrowed and he moved his tattooed hand over his mouth. She wondered if this was his way of letting her know he wasn't bored but amused, hopefully amused enough that she could walk out of this club alive.

Mark took note of the exchange between the two and decided to quickly squash whatever it was that he was watching. This bitch was his problem and he was going to take care of his problem any way he saw fit. "Yea," he spit out causing the Joker to lower his smiling hand and look his way. "She needs to learn who she fucked with."

The Joker let out a spine tingling cackle that caused the hairs on Emily's arms to raise. "Oh, oh! That memo," he replied. "Craig, did you get that memo?"

Emily's head snapped towards the curtain that was now being pushed open. Craig stepped in, teddy bear turned vicious. Another man in a suit followed behind him, a man that she had never seen before but looked just as dangerous. A chill flowed down her spine at their presence and Mark's men aimed their attention to the new comers, forgetting that the most dangerous threat was behind them.

"Yea boss," he answered gruffly. "I got the memo."

"Ya see Marky Mark, memo was received."

Mark sneered at Craig as he addressed the Joker. "Then you should teach your men to follow orders." He was too busy eyeing Craig and the other man to notice the humor drain from the Joker's face. Emily, however, watched his demeanor change, with a sick fascination. He remained seated but she could feel his whole body tense. _Not good,_ she thought nervously as she began to bite her bottom lip.

"Marky Mark, you're an idiot if you think any decision is made by anyone other than me," Joker snapped. "I hired her," he growled as his right hand curled into a fist and uncurled. "And you're a dumb fuck if you think you can come here and tell me how to handle my men!"

It happened so fast, all Emily could do was let out a yelp. He had moved so quickly, pulling a gun seemingly out of nowhere and blowing off the head of the man who had held her when Mark was hitting her.

"What the FUCK was that," Mark shouted, pulling out his gun and aiming at the Joker. A few inches and the gun would be pointing at Emily, an observation that she didn't miss.

"THAT," he shouted, causing both Emily and Mark to jump, "was me deciding to let you live," Joker explained as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the past several minutes. Mark's face was red with rage, a vein could be seen throbbing.

"All of this because of some insignificant bitch?" He growled. "You fucked up big time."

"HA! HA! HA! Whatcha gonna do about it? Run and tell daddy?" Joker taunted. "Now you listen to me, you little shit," he rumbled while he shot up to his feet. "You come into MY club, you touch MY things, and you try to tell ME what to do? No I don't think so." Once again, Emily noted how he moved like a predator, slowly slinking towards Mark until he was right in front of him. "Now you listen here, _boyyyyy,_ you're going to leave while you still have that option. I see you in here again, it'll be your fucking brains splattered on the wall. Got me?"

Mark gritted his teeth and slowly nodded his head.

"Good boy," Joker whispered while he placed a few not too gentle pats to his cheek. "Now GET OUT!"

The sudden shout caused Emily to nearly jump out of her skin. She watched as Mark and the three that were left standing, leave the area. She had no idea what she was supposed to do, no one had addressed her during the commotion, she hadn't exactly been dismissed. _Get it together Emily,_ she told herself. She could hear Joker, Craig, and the unfamiliar man in black, discussing something but it all sounded like white noise at this point. _Just get up, go to the bathroom, clean yourself up and get back to work. It's dark, no one will notice that your face probably looks like an eggplant. You CANNOT get fired again._ Slowly, she got to her feet only to feel her legs wobble beneath her. _Now I look like a baby deer. Fucking fantastic._ While she was busy scolding herself, she didn't realize three sets of eyes were following her every move. One set more intently than the others. They watched as she walked over to her fallen tray, being careful to not let her eyes travel towards the brains splattered on the wall beside her.

A firm hand grasped her upper arm, causing her to flinch in surprise and in pain. The bruises were starting to form already and the unwanted pressure wasn't helping. She looked up to see the Joker staring back at her. He either didn't register her pain or he didn't care because he didn't let go. _Probably the latter._

"Uhh, whatcha doin there sweets?" He asked, quirking his head slightly.

"I, uhm, was gonna go clean up and get back to work," she whispered, her eyes still trained on his. For some reason she was unable to pull away from his electric blue eyes. She sighed internally when he released her arm and took a step back.

He placed his hand over his mouth, his tattooed smile once again in her sight. Her own smile began to form, it wasn't a full smile, but it was something and it made Joker's brow raise. It looked odd to Emily, seeing him raise a hairless eyebrow and it reminded her that she was standing in front of the Joker, the most dangerous man in the city. It also reminded her how stupid she was to assume she still had a job. "That's if I still have a job Mr.," she trailed off slightly. What was she supposed to call him? "Mr. Joker?" she finished carefully.

He held his stare, longer than she would have liked because her insides were squirming with turmoil. He grunted in reply and simply turned around and walked out of the room without a second glance. Craig and mystery man stepped aside to allow room for Joker to walk, Craig looking at Emily and mystery man looking at the mess.

"What does that mean?" She asked Craig.

"Johnny here is gonna take you home. Take off for your next three shifts."

"But those first two shifts are our busiest nights, I can't afford to miss those shifts," she responded flatly. Any other time she would have fought it but she simply didn't have the energy to muster up much emotion at the moment.

"Seriously girly?" Craig asked, trying to lighten up her mood. "Go home and I'll let you know tomorrow about your schedule. Now like I said, Johnny is gonna take you home."

She watched as he walked out and now she was left with the mystery man, or Johnny as she had just learned. He looked at her and nodded his head behind him, indicating that it was time to leave without saying a word. _Well this is going to be a fun ride home._

"Rain, rain, go away..." she mumbled to her bedroom ceiling. She hadn't even bothered with a shower, that could wait until tomorrow. She had been numb the whole car ride home and finally the events of tonight were starting to catch up with her.

It happened slowly, that specific unease that began to creep through her body causing her breath to quicken. _No, not possible,_ she thought to herself. He wouldn't have followed her home, what a joke. A joke! These past few weeks had been nothing but a joke and laughter started to pour out of her mouth. She's not sure when that laughter turned into sobs but they did and then sleep pulled her in deep.


	4. Chapter 4

Once again, I own nothing DC, only my own characters.

Thanks for the reviews and the follows! I really appreciate it!

xXxXxXx

Emily had taken the next day after the incident to pull herself together, well as much as she could. The following day happened to be a scheduled day off and she was supposed to meet Jim for lunch but that clearly wasn't going to happen. She had called in and made up some excuse, there was no way Jim could see her face right now. Make-up hardly made her look presentable and this would only cause Jim's head to explode, extra drama that she didn't need.

But that was yesterday and today was Saturday, a night that was guaranteed to provide good tips. She was told to take off but she really needed the money so she called Craig's cell to tell him she was fine to come in to work. She figured that with the right amount of make-up and the dark lighting of the club, no one would notice her bruises too much. Besides, they'd all be plastered.

Time was ticking forward and she still hadn't heard back from Craig, despite the five voicemails and three texts that she had sent out. "Fuck it," she muttered as she sauntered into the bathroom. "Time to get ready."

xXxXxXx

By the time she got to work, their shift meeting was just about to begin. She was trying not to draw attention to herself and she was doing an ok job until Larissa did a double take at her face.

"Jesus Christ, Emily. What happened?" Larissa exclaimed in a whisper as to not interrupt Craig while he was talking.

"A train, don't worry about it," Emily muttered in response hoping that Larissa would let it go. She looked ahead, letting Larissa know that she was done talking about it. She listened while Craig read off everyone's sections, she knew he would give hers to someone else so she just had to see who it was. Anna, good, she would be thrilled that she wouldn't have to work two sections. Emily was pulled out of her thoughts by Larissa's voice.

"Uh Craig? Emily's here."

Almost as if she had a beacon over her, Craig's eyes met hers and he didn't look the least bit amused. _Shit_ , she thought.

"Everyone get going, Anna work both sections until I say otherwise. Emily, get your ass in my office." He groused.

 _Double Shit._ Her eyes followed him as he left the room while everyone else's eyes stayed on her as they walked out of the room but she ignored the stares. She was too busy trying to read the situation. She knew she was biting her bottom lip and twirling a piece of her hair around her finger but she couldn't stop. Two nervous habits that made her look like a child, she knew, but she couldn't shake them as hard as she tried. She often wondered why she couldn't just smoke like any other self respecting nervous adult. She forced her hand away from her hair and took a deep breath. "Get your shit together Em," she muttered aloud as she made her way to his office. "Never know, they may give you a raise for your outstanding work ethic." She barely finished her sentence before a snort escaped, even she couldn't take herself seriously.

With another deep breath, she walked into Craig's office to be met with the back of his chair. She figured that if she started talking first, she'd have a better chance pleading her case, so that's what she did. "Look Craig, I know you said a few days but I really need the money and I'm..." she slowly tapered off when it occurred to her that Craig hadn't turned around yet. She quickly walked around the desk to turn the chair around "Craig?"

She was either getting used to the feeling he usually produced over her or she simply wasn't paying attention because she wasn't expecting to come face to face with Joker. She pulled her hand away from the chair quicker than lightening and jumped back. "Holy shit!" She shrieked involuntarily.

"So tell me, _sweeeeets,_ " he drawled out. "If you knew not to come in, why do I see your pretty face right now?"

"I, uhm, well I..."

"Cat got your tongue, hmm?" He replied as he stood up and made his way towards Emily. She figured that if she stayed in the open space there was no way he could corner her and that odds would be on her side. That plan flew out the window the moment her legs hit one of the chairs in Craig's office and her ass gracelessly plopped onto the cushion. _Fuck, fuck, fuck!_ She internally shouted. "Don't get all shy on me now, I know you have quite the mouth."

"I need," she paused to let out a sigh. "I need the money," she muttered, eyes casted downwards, embarrassed for whatever reason.

"Why!" He shouted, hands now resting on the arms of the chair, effectively caging her in. She was almost certain that her heart had stopped in fear due to his outburst and fists banging off the arms of the chair. "Why is it always money? You disappoint me sweets."

Her hazel eyes shot up to look him in the face. _Disappointed,_ she thought angrily. The moment he pushed off of the chair and stood back she jumped up. Disappointed? Who the fuck did he think he was? Obviously the Joker but he didn't know her, he had no right to be disappointed and for some reason his opinion didn't sit well. "Excuse me?" She watched as he turned to face her, face blank but eyes intense. "Disappointed? You don't even know me!" She yelled. "Yea, money! I need to pay rent and bills! With whatever is left I use for food when I can, because it's not like we're making bank here!"

With a smirk, he watched as a fire built inside of her. Nothing explosive but he could see it brewing. He had been bored all day but his sweets came in to save the day, he just needed to stir the pot a bit. That smirk was all he needed to do. That smirk irritated the shit out of Emily. Somewhere in the back of her mind a small itsy-bitsy voice was telling her to calm down but she was hitting her breaking point and all logic disappeared.

"We can't all rob banks and work with gangsters and kill people!"

"Why not?" He asked as if his line of work was the easiest thing to do in the world. The question gave her pause and she soon began to laugh. She walked closer to him.

"You're unreal! You don't know me! Who are you to be disappointed in me, you aren't my father," she shouted.

 _There she is,_ he thought to himself with a grin.

In a sense she knew she was digging her grave but to finally be yelling out all of the frustration from the past month was liberating. It didn't escape her that she chose to blow up on the most dangerous man out of all of them but she was too far gone to care at this point.

He once again remained quiet, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed. His smirk turned into a full blown smile, the one that caused people to piss themselves in fear. She had no idea what was going through his head but at this point she didn't care, she was too focused on her heavy breathing. "You know what," she muttered and even though it was a rhetorical question, he tilted his head to the side a bit and eyed her up. "I'm out of here. Since it's so easy to get money, I quit!" she stated firmly. Emily spun on her feet and quickly made her way to the door. If she stopped, she was afraid that she would lose her edge and take back everything that she said. Most likely she would end up apologizing profusely.

She almost made it to the door before she recognized the sharp pain of her hair being pulled. The bruised side of her face met the wall with such force that all she could do was gasp in pain. She tried using her hands to push off the wall to at least alleviate the pressure but he quickly pulled her arms behind her, his hands so big that he held both wrists behind her back with his right hand alone.

"Now you listen to me sweets," he growled menacingly, his lips ghosting against the shell of her ear. "Everything in this club belongs to me. You are in this club, you belong to me." He emphasized his point by thrusting his hips forward. Emily's eyes snapped shut and she did her best to hold back any sign of pain that was begging to be released. "So, I am your daddy. Now listen real good," he muttered as he quickly spun her around. Emily's back was now against the wall, arms pinned on both sides of her head, eyes now wide open. They traveled all over his face to get some kind of idea of what he was thinking. "You disobey me again, well," he gave a quick laugh, "today will look like a picnic compared to what I'll do." He continued to laugh as he felt her body tremble. He pushed himself off of her and began to make his exit. "Oh!" He exclaimed in sick joy, "consider yourself suspended for a week. No pay," he laughed again, looking like he was so proud of himself. His laughter cut off and his face was back to being dead serious. "You have ten minutes to get out," and then he slammed the door shut behind him.

Her legs finally gave out and she slid down the wall to the floor. A week with no pay? She let out a scream of frustration, pounding her fists against the floor. "Shit," she whispered to the empty room as the past few minutes finally registered. "What the fuck did I just do?"


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Same as before, I only own my characters. Thanks for reading everyone!

xXxXxXx

It was six days through her week long suspension when a knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. She hadn't left her apartment, she decided that she would cry and fume and then cry some more. She was coming up close on needing more groceries so she took her time going through what was left in her kitchen. It helped that she stayed in bed most of the day, only one or two meals was all that was necessary. However, she was coming up close on running out of alcohol as well. She had gone through three bottles of wine in the first 48 hours, cleared out the beer she had before her fateful mistake, and was almost through the whiskey that she was trying to portion out.

The knocking at the door persisted, even louder than the first time. She unwrapped herself from her blanket and made her way to the door, opening it without even looking through the peephole. She came face to face with her landlord, Mrs. Grets, an older middle aged woman who reminded her of the evil step-mother from Cinderella. _Fuck,_ Emily thought to herself with a sigh. This was the last person that she had wanted to see during the pity party she was throwing herself.

Emily carefully kept her arm on the door and angled herself so that she was blocking the entrance. "Mrs. Grets, what can I do for you?"

"May I come in?" She asked, all trace of kindness void from her mouth.

"Actually, no. I'm doing some cleaning and it's quite the mess."

Mrs. Grets noticed Emily's hand tightened on the door and a sneer crept onto her face. "Well that's convenient, maybe you'll get your security deposit back."

Emily's brow furrowed in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"Well you see my dear," she answered in such a condescending manner that Emily really wanted to bash the woman's face in with her fists. "Your rent is late and I'm afraid that means you must take your leave," she finished with a smile reserved for a demon from hell.

Emily's heart began to race. She had completely forgotten that rent was due, she had been relying on her previous pay check, that the Joker decided to suspend as well, to take care of the rent that was due two days ago. "I hardly see how that's fair Mrs. Grets. I've never been late before and I'm good for the money. I just need to wait to get paid," she replied as calmly as possible. She wouldn't let this woman have the joy of seeing her breakdown.

"Oh yes, your pay from working at that horrendous club," Mrs. Grets said, disgusted. "It's a shame that I don't care if you haven't been slutting it up well enough."

"What-" but Emily was cut off.

"You have two days to get your shit and yourself out of the unit." With that, the woman turned on her feet and walked away humming.

Standing there astonished, all she could do was slowly shut the door. She felt that she should be crying but a feeling started in her stomach, rising up her body, and out through her mouth. Laughing, she was laughing hysterically and try as she might she couldn't stop.

xXxXxXx

The following day, on her last day of suspension, she found herself standing in front of a door that she swore she wouldn't knock on. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. She quickly knocked, hoping that he wasn't home but luck wasn't on her side. The door swung open and she was face to face with her savior once again.

"Hey Jim."

"Emily?" He was actually surprised to see her standing on his door step, wet from the rain, three bags resting on the floor. She had been avoiding him and he didn't think that would change anytime soon. He knew where she worked and despite offering to help her, she still chose to fix things on her own. It took a moment while his eyes did a once over for his anger to register. He could see the fading yellow and green bruises that were fading from her face and images of what she must have looked like before flooded his mind. "What the fuck happened to your face," he seethed.

"Can I come in," she muttered. Silently he stepped aside and she walked in, bags at her side. She left them in the hallway as she hung up her wet jacket on a hook hanging on the wall.

He watched her carefully, curious about her bags but even more curious about her face. He ushered her into the living room, guiding her to the couch while he took a seat on the couch across from her. "Now, I'm asking again, what the fuck happened to your face?"

His voice was clipped, causing Emily to flinch. She knew he'd be angry and she thought she was prepared to deal with it but she was wrong. She wasn't sure if he'd be angry or disappointed, maybe a combination. Anger she could deal with, disappointment would be crushing. "So uhm," she began, taking a moment to push down her nerves, "after I was fired I looked for jobs and kept striking out. My last resort was to work at a less than reputable place-"

He quickly cut her off. "I know where you work."

"What? How?"

"Do you really think I wouldn't be looking out for you?"

"You could have told me," she muttered, eyes looking around the room as long as they didn't land on his face.

"Do you think you would have listened if I said anything? I know you, you would have been pissed so I let you do this on your own because I knew you wouldn't listen to me," he bit back.

Emily replied with a snort. Of course he was right, he was always right. She didn't exactly know what to say back so she continued. "Well one night I was working and those thugs from the restaurant decided to pay me a visit."

"-"

She held up her hand so she could continue. "Needless to say, they wanted to send a message. It could've been a lot worse but they were interrupted but because of extenuating circumstances I was suspended from work for a week." Jim knew she was leaving out some important details, but he wasn't going to push. He was surprised she was telling him anything in the first place. He ran his hands over his face and through his shaggy hair and let her continue. "Long story short, I forgot about rent because I didn't have the money and Mrs. Grets booted me from the building."

"That fucking bitch," he grunted. He could kill that awful women without a second thought.

"Yea well, shit happens, right?" She was trying to make light of the situation as best as she could but deep down she knew she was failing to do so, there was nothing light about the situation. Even Jim was irritated at her attempt.

"Let's recount. You got fired, have a mob guy hot for payback, working at bar under a boss who wants to reprimand you for some reason you won't explain..." his voice slowed down and it was like a light switch was flipped. "Please tell me your boss isn't who I think it is," his voice sounding strangled.

"No!" She quickly lied. She was surprised it took this long for him to realize that the Joker being her boss was a possibility. "No, no. He owns it but doesn't run it. Craig, Craig is the name of my boss." She quickly finished. A part of her was dying on the inside for lying to him but it was for the best. She didn't want him involved, he would definitely try to make her quit and if there was one person who could convince her, it was Jim. She had already threatened to quit and that didn't go over so well, she couldn't imagine what would happen if she did and if Joker found out there was someone else behind her actions.

Jim let out a sigh of relief. "Good, good," he muttered. "So," he clapped his hands, "I'm guessing that you need a place to stay."

"Only for a little bit while I find somewhere else," Emily stated firmly.

He knew that voice, it held a tone of finality that he wouldn't be able to argue. He wanted to tell her she could stay here as long as she needed, hell she could stay forever if it would help. She was his best friend and he wanted to shake the ever living hell out of her until she realized that she could accept his offered help. But he knew that would do no good and ultimately drive a wedge between them and that was something he didn't want. So instead he nodded his head and stood up. "Alright, let's get something to eat." And that was the end of that conversation.

XxXxXxX

Two weeks had once again gone by, flew by was more like it in Emily's opinion. Her life seemed to be moving along in a blink of an eye. She was trying to save up as much money as she could to help pay for her share of the expenses, much to Jim's protests. She was also trying to get a head start on saving up for her own place once again, much to Jim's protests. He didn't understand her rush but this was her independence they were discussing. She had gone through too much to have it reduced and it was something that she took pride in, one of the only things really. In order to start saving up, she began working extra shifts at that club and covering some of the other girls' shifts as well, she hadn't had a day off since her "suspension" was lifted. She was nervous on her first day back, she tried to fly under the radar but she noticed that her "spidey senses" weren't going off so she calmed down a bit. When she decided to name her weird sixth sense she laughed out loud causing Craig to look at her funny. Spiderman wouldn't be caught dead here.

Craig, now there was another person that she wanted to avoid when she came back. She was worried that she'd take out her anger on him, she hadn't forgotten that he basically set her up to be on the receiving end of the Joker's rage. However, that anger didn't last long. The first night, he had waited to call out her shifts last, waiting for everyone else to leave the back room. He gave her a look of concern before asking if she was ok. She then realized that it was very possible that Craig had no say in the matter and decided that she liked him too much to blame him for anything. She gave him a small smile and a nod to which he followed up by pinching her cheek and shooing her out to start her job. After that, they were back to normal.

She was currently sitting outside in her favorite spot to take her break relishing the last few minutes that were left. The rain had died down just before and she was grateful for the cool air it had created. Stretching one last time, she moaned as her shoulders popped relieving some of the stress she'd been carrying around.

"Hmm, wonder what else can make you moan like that," a confident and gravelly voice said from behind.

Emily spun around with a quick scream leaving her mouth. Her heart was hammering through her chest as she focused on the form leaning against the brick wall between her and the door, effectively preventing a swift exit. "You need to stop doing that," she said as calmly as she could while trying to regulate her heartbeat. The way he was smirking at her made her think that he could hear the beat from where he was standing.

"I don't know sweets, I like hearing you scream," he replied as he pushed himself off of the wall and began to stalk towards Emily, causing a blush to color her cheeks. She remained where she was standing, refusing to show the slight fear she was feeling. She hadn't forgotten what it was like during their last interaction but she was being stubborn again. One of these days it was going to get her killed, that she was sure.

"Well, I don't like it," she bit out. Before he could say anything she continued to talk. "When did you get back?"

He looked at her curiously wondering how she knew he had been gone. He told Craig he had business to deal with but knew that he would never speak about his business to anyone. He was too loyal for that but she asked with such certainty. He gave a slight frown. "How did you know I was gone?"

Emily crossed her arms and jutted her right hip out to the side. "My spidey senses have been pretty quiet lately. Besides, you just told me."

 _Spidey senses? What the fuck,_ He thought to himself. He was more impressed, however, that she managed to one up him as minor as it was. "Clever girl, full of tricks aren't we?" He once again stepped closer to her, pushing into her personal space. Her inner self grinned at the compliment but it quickly wilted away at his next words. "For someone so smart, you sure do fuck up, Emily." Her dragged out her name followed by a cackle causing her to shiver.

"What are you talking about?" She was genuinely confused, she hadn't done anything that she could recall.

He was impressed that she remained standing in her spot, something that also pissed him off. "Think real hard," he commanded, taunting her as he began to circle her form. He stopped behind her and officially entered her personal space. Her back was now pressed against his chest and his hands, surprisingly gentle, rested on her upper arms. "You weren't scheduled to work tonight, right?"

"No," she whispered. "I picked up the shift."

"Imagine my surprise when I came by your apartment to make sure you were behaving only to find you not there. As in, completely moved out. Do you think I'm stupid, that I wouldn't find out you were trying to hide from me," he growled, his grip beginning to tighten. His growl sent shivers down her spine and she realized what he was talking about.

"That, that's not what I was trying to do. I- I was evicted," she stuttered. He quickly spun her around causing her feet to wobble. As a reflex, she grabbed onto the lapels of his suit to prevent herself from falling even though the grip on her arms was more than enough.

"Why?"

"You, you suspended my pay and I was two days late with rent. My landlord booted me," she answered quickly, eyes wide and staring into his bright eyes. Even in the dark they still shined bright.

"Don't lie to me bitch," he gave a quick shake. "Two days?"

"I'm not lying! You could ask her if you wanted!"

He eyed her, noting the fear that was radiating from her body. Good. She was getting too cocky for a few moments. He liked that side of her but he also liked her a tad afraid as well, to keep the power on his side. "Where are you staying?"

"At a friend's house," she replied, finally letting her eyes fall. She didn't want him to know about Jim but she was sure that was about to change. His pointed gaze confirmed that theory, egging her to continue. "My friend Jim." Tears were beginning to pool in her eyes, flashbacks running through her mind from the last time she was in this position.

He quickly had her shoved up against the brick wall causing her to wince in pain. "I'm gonna ask you once, sweets. And you better not lie to me. Friend or boyfriend?"

"Friend! Just a friend, I swear," Emily found herself crying out. She wasn't sure why he cared but she wasn't going ask.

He looked over her and could tell that she was telling the truth. _Good girl,_ he thought to himself. He let out one of his infamous laughs and pried her fingers off of his suit. "Well, that's enough for tonight." He stepped back and started walking down the alley towards the front of the club. Her senses quickly returned and instantly she felt the need for a confirmation. She took strides as big as her legs would allow her to and grabbed his wrist.

"You believe me, right?" She noticed when he turned around, his face held an element of annoyance and humor. He yanked his wrist out of her gasp and gently, to her surprise, grabbed her face with a thumb on one side and his other fingers on the left causing her lips to slightly pucker. She kept her breathing steady.

"Oh sweets," he chuckled. "If I didn't, you wouldn't need to be asking. Now," he stepped nearer and pulled her face closer. Her eyes widened and remained open as he roughly placed a kiss on her lips. He let go, his lips smacking. "Daddy has business to take care of," he let go of her face and turned her around in the direction of the back door, "go make some money."

She jumped a little as his hand gave her ass a smack but refused to turn around, instead she walked forward without looking back. She heard the echo of his footsteps as he walked in the opposite direction, his laughter following after him.


	6. Chapter 6

*I don't own anything in regards to DC. I only own my own characters

*Song mentioned in the story is "Gangsta" by Kehlani

*Once again, thank you to everyone who sent me reviews as well as those who started following the story! Thank you so much!

Chapter 6:

"I need a gangsta, to love me better, than all the others do. To always forgive me, ride or die with me. That's just what gangstas do..." Emily sang, swaying her hips while she applied her silver hoop earrings.

"What the hell are you singing?" Jim asked, standing in the doorway to her room. His eyes followed her as she rushed about her room looking for what he could only guess was her other shoe since she was currently stumbling around in only one.

"Some stupid song that was playing at the club the other night," she replied, ducking under the guest bed. "Haven't been able to get it out of my head...AHA! Got it, you little fucker!" Jim laughed as she popped up like a jack-in-the-box only for her to rush around the room looking for something else. His eyes followed her as she bent over to pick something up off of the floor, a bracelet maybe? He had no idea, he was too distracted by her ass, sticking up in the air and right in his line of sight. Jim had to admit, she looked sexy as hell and it mildly annoyed him that it was for the benefit of others.

"...would that be ok? Jim?" Her voice pulled him from his thoughts and he grunted in response. "Did you hear what I asked?"

"Sorry, no. What'd you say?"

Emily huffed in annoyance, hand on her hips emphasizing her annoyance. "I asked if you could drop me off at work? I'm running later than I thought."

"Yea sure, I'll be in the living room when you're ready, your majesty," he replied causing a genuine laugh to bubble up from Emily. He gave her a wink and left her to finish getting ready.

Emily gave herself a quick look over one last time before heading into the living room. She walked up behind Jim who was sitting on the couch intensely focused on the TV. She took note that it was Channel 6 news and then took note on the actual segment. There, staring back at her was a picture of her old landlord Mrs. Grets. "What the fuck," she whispered aloud.

"Yea, can you believe it? They said it must've been a robbery gone bad, didn't think anyone would be home and they just murdered her," Jim stated, twisting around to face Emily. He noticed that some of the color from her face had drained. He stood up and walked over to her. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Huh? Yea, it's just uhm, just crazy that's all," she mumbled. Any other time, she may have viewed the incident as one of the worlds many quirks, a coincidence or maybe even karma. Emily was a huge believer in karma but she had a sick feeling that this karma was hand delivered by a pair of red lips, bright eyes, and green hair.

"Tell me about it, so are you ready to go?"

Emily simply nodded her head and followed Jim out to the car, all while deciding if she wanted to dig her grave deeper.

xXxXxXx

The club had been steady all night so she had a difficult time trying to find him but she knew he was there. She had felt it, he was somewhere in that building and now that the night was over, she was going to find him. She waited until everyone had gone on their way before she walked back out to the bar to find Craig. He was sitting in the same spot he was when they first met and it made her smile for a brief second.

"Craig," she called, getting his attention.

"Hey girly, shouldn't you be getting home," he replied, more like a reminder as opposed to a question, his eyes never leaving the books he was scribbling through.

"I need to talk to him, where is he?"

His eyes quickly left the page after that and they held something that Emily couldn't quite describe. "He's not here," he grouched.

"Bullshit, Craig. I know he's here," she bit back. "I just need to talk to him really quickly and then I'm out of here, promise."

"That's all well and good but he's not here so you'll have to save it for a different day," he said calmly, eyes going back to the books. "And if he was, he wouldn't want to talk to you anyways," he finished, hoping that she would get the hint and just leave.

 _So much for being nice,_ she thought to herself. "I know you're lying." She stared at Craig who was now ignoring her presence and decided she'd go in for the kill. Joker always popped up when she was somehow in some sort of "trouble," so she'd just have to create her own. "Fine, I'm leaving and I'm off for the next three days so," she took a deep breath and continued, voice elevating with each word, "if he decides to stop being such a pussy," she brought her voice back down to a normal volume, "let him know I was looking for him."

Craig groaned and watched as she spun on her heels and walked outside. What the fuck was she trying to do? He heard the sound of a door closing and groaned again. She wanted to talk to him so badly? She was about to get her wish, _crazy bitch._

xXxXxXx

As she began her walk home, Emily regretted not asking Jim for a ride home. It was early October, the nights getting colder and her jacket and poor excuse of a scarf weren't exactly ideal. In all reality, she would never ask Jim to pick her up, her hours were too sporadic and late that she wouldn't bother him with the task. She didn't have a car and buses stopped running after one in the morning so her only other option was to walk. She never had a problem before and she oddly felt safe walking home since the Joker confronted Mark all those weeks ago.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she paid no attention to the parked SUV that was sitting several feet ahead and she certainly didn't hear the door open as she walked past. The sudden movement of a hand covering her mouth as another arm wrapped around her chest prevented her from shouting. Her hands grabbed onto the arm and her feet were working double time to prevent herself from tripping while she was being dragged from behind. She let out an _'oomph'_ as she landed from being haphazardly thrown into the backseat. The door slammed shut quickly and the purr of the engine pulled her out of her stupor. She registered the Joker's presence while she worked on getting her breathing back to normal. He was sitting casually, his arm thrown around the middle headrest, one leg bent on top of the other, eyes completely focused on her. She knew her stunt would persuade him to come out but not like that. She brushed back her that was falling in front of her face and eyes. "That seemed a bit over the top," she stated as coolly as one could while sitting across from the Joker.

"What can I say sweets? I've always been one for dramatics." His reply was calm and that unnerved her a bit so she slowly pushed herself as far back as she could, her back pressed against the door and body positioned so she was facing him head on. She figured this would be the best way to keep an eye on his actions. "You wanted me, you got me. So talk."

"You can't just go killing people!" In her head, she had a much more sophisticated start to what she wanted to consider a lecture. That plan went out the window rather quickly.

Joker let out a low chuckle, eyeing up her form. "What on earth could you possibly be talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Mrs. Grets. You can't just go killing people."

"That's a part of the job, little girl. I must say it was a rather relaxing way to start my week," he laughed.

The mention of being a "little girl" caused Emily to bristle. "Mr. Joker, I'm-" She was quickly cut off before she could go any further.

"J. Call me J," he griped. The switch in attitude caused her to roll her eyes in annoyance. Something that cause him to squint his eyes in her direction.

"I'm not a little girl, _Mr. J_ ," she responded, emphasizing his name cheekily.

"How old are you?" Her sass was starting to irritate him and his patience was wearing thin.

"Twenty-seven."

"Then start acting like it!"

His shout caused her to jump but she was brought back down by the offense that she took from his insult. "Excuse-"

He lunged, yanking her leg forward causing her to slide onto the seat. Before she could even process what was going on she was suddenly between the seat and him, his hands on both sides of her head. This seemed to be a consistent position she found herself in, especially with him. Her wide hazel eyes staring up at him caused something to stir inside. He couldn't decide if he wanted to reprimand her or fuck her, the latter would have to wait. "What did I say before," he shouted in her face. "Hmmm? You disobey me, I wasn't going to go easy on you. I'm adding disrespect to the list, you roll those pretty eyes at me one more time and I'll scoop them out with a rusty spoon! Got me!" Emily quickly nodded her head in understanding. She watched as his lips gracefully transitioned into a sneer that caused a shiver to run down her spine. "Good. Wanna rethink calling me a pussy?"

Even though it was a rhetorical question, she still felt the need to respond in some way. "I'm sorry," she whispered, eyes still wide and trying to read his emotions. All she received was a grunt.

"Still think I'm a pussy?" She quickly shook her head. "Good, because," he said slowly, dragging out the words. His left hand left its position from beside her head and made its way to her neck. His gentle touch was worrisome and, if possible, her eyes widened even more. His touch slowly made its way down her chest, between her breasts and down her side. Her breathing increased as his fingers ghosted alongside her outer thigh before stopping. "I only see one pussy," and in an instant his hand was cupping her sex. Another shiver shot down her spine but for a completely different reason. She bit her lip to hold back any kind of response but she kept her eyes on him, refusing to back down all the way, refusing to allow him the satisfaction of her surrender. Joker took note of her reaction and made sure to store that information in the back of his mind for later. "And it belongs to me," he growled. "You owe me and it's about time I started collecting."

"What do you want," her voice shaky and laced with fright.

"Tomorrow night, you're going to dress real pretty and me and you are gonna have some fun."

"Like, like a date?" She was thoroughly confused. His mood swings were giving her whiplash and her feelings about the whole situation were enough to drive her crazy. She watched as he moved his hand from her crotch and spread his tattooed smile across his mouth. She wasn't sure why but anytime he did this, she found the action endearing. It reminded her of the first night they had met and how he saved her from a very unfortunate situation. A small smile started to form and she let out a small giggle.

Joker watched with hungry eyes as a smile lit up her face and her eyes sparkled with...excitement? Mirth? There was something there that created a hunger for this girl. _Oh yea,_ he thought, _she's gonna be a fun one_.

At that moment, they were laughing together.


	7. Chapter 7

Once again I don't own anything but my OCs

Sorry it took awhile! Thanks to everyone who follows, started to follow, and reviewed!

Last thing, please give this chapter a break. It's a bit of a filler and even though I spent a good bit of time putting it together, I still feel like it got away from me.

Thanks!

Chapter 7:

The night had been a whirlwind of emotions for Emily. She almost felt high as she was dropped off in front of Jim's house, she had walked in on wobbly legs with a grin stretched so wide her cheeks were sore. There was something exciting about being in the Joker's presence, the man personified danger and it was like a magnet. He would be the perfect fix for an adrenaline junkie.

When she walked further into the house, she noticed the living room light shining into the hallway. She continued on, pausing in the entry way of the room only to find Jim asleep on the couch. She realized that he must have tried waiting up for her and her cheek splitting grin softened into a sentimental smile as she acknowledged his gesture. The sound of a car door slamming shut caused reality to come crashing down and it was like someone splashed a bucket of cold water in her face. The events replayed in her mind but this time the rose-tinted glasses were off.

Shit could have hit the fan with the stunt that she pulled. She had caught J in a good mood as far as she was concerned but that was just with sheer luck. She was thrown into the lion's den. Only now did she appreciate that she was allowed to leave the den. He had touched her, she had let him and some sick thrill was the result of his actions. Never before had she condoned a man touching her like that out of nowhere, she had punched a mob goon for grabbing her ass! She came home as if she had just ended a night of fun with her friends! She left that SUV sans freedom. She was spoken for now and it took several minutes before the severity of the night sunk in.

Jim tossed onto his side and the movement spurred Emily into action. She quickly made her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed and she hoped that she could get through her routine without Jim waking up. He would instantly know something was up and she couldn't handle the inquisition without cracking.

Once she was finally in bed with the covers pulled up to her chin did she beg for sleep to come quickly. Not only was she mentally and emotionally drained but also physically. Her stomach felt like it was full of cement, the rest of her body wound tight. The ups and downs that J created were taxing and she wished that she had heeded Craig's advice from earlier.

As her eyes grew heavy and her breathing started to even out, she found herself thinking about what she was going to wear for their "date." _Date,_ she internally scoffed at herself. A small frown wormed its way onto her face and just before she fell asleep she scolded herself. _What the fuck is wrong with me?_

xXxXxXxXxXx

It was a quarter to ten and Emily was mindlessly drumming her nails against the kitchen table while holding a glass of merlot in her other hand. She had been a bundle of nerves all day while she was trying to analyze her fucked up self. It wasn't until Jim left for work when she finally came out of her room feeling as if she were hung over. She moped about most of the day and at some point in the afternoon she received a text from an unknown number. All it said was 10p.m. so she figured that was the pickup time, or at least that's what she assumed. After that, she spent a few minutes on a story to tell Jim in case he was home when she left. She somewhat remembered him mentioning going out with friends after work but she couldn't be a hundred percent positive.

After she came up with a cover story, she spent the next few hours trying to figure out how she could possibly get out of this arrangement. She doubted that J would accept an excuse such as being sick, even though she was sick. How, she wasn't sure. Mentally sick, physically sick, maybe a mixture of both. _Mostly just mental,_ she had thought to herself when she found herself standing in front of the closet looking at outfits. It wasn't like she had a huge selection of clothes to choose from and she had no idea where they were going so when he said "pretty" it still had left her in the dark. He would just have to be happy with whatever she picked out, she put her foot down when the idea of texting the unknown number popped into her head.

She had chosen a thin strapped black dress with a neckline that was cut low enough to provide and show ample cleavage. It had a scooped back and hit mid-thigh, hugging her curves tastefully. It wasn't slutty but was club worthy, or at least that was her opinion. She had added some silver jewelry to accent the dress but she kept it simple. She let her hair go natural, the beach waves were good enough so that was one thing that she didn't have to obsess over. No, her time was spent on creating a plan of attack for her make-up. In the end she had chosen to do a smoky eye made up of neutral colors, highlighting it with eyeliner and a heavy dose of mascara. Her lips were painted a deep plum and after making sure that her blush was spread evenly, she was finally satisfied.

So at 9:45p.m. she sat all done up at the kitchen table sipping on her liquid courage with no clue as to where tonight would go. She snorted at the idea of J giving her flowers and taking her out to a nice quiet dinner. She shook her head at the image she had conjured in her mind, an image of them sitting at a quaint bistro, candles lit, and soft music playing in the background. The absurdity of it all made her chuckle, like J could ever go out in a nice part of town and have a normal date.

"Jesus Christ Emily," she muttered to herself. "Why in the ever-living-fuck are you even thinking about this? So fucking ridiculous," she mumbled out loud again. It was now 9:55p.m. and her nerves were starting to tingle. "You got this, this is a power move. You can take that power back...I don't know how but you can. Yea, get your shit together. You're a tough chick and can handle what life has thrown at you, you always have," she finished with a sigh. Her pep-talk filled the silence in the room and calmed her down, only a slight fraction but she would take it regardless.

The vibrations of her phone caused her heart rate to spike and she began to chew on her lip once again as she opened the text message. **Let's go.** Emily stood up with a sigh, grabbed her wristlet, and made her way outside. She pulled her shoulders back as she made her way to the familiar SUV and hopped in backseat, an empty backseat. She glanced up front and made eye contact with Frost in the rearview mirror. She raised her eyebrow, questioning the lack of Joker.

He gave a shrug and directed his gaze forward as he started to drive. "Boss had some stuff to finish up, says he's sorry he couldn't pick you up."

Emily snorted and rolled her eyes in reply. _So full of shit_ , she thought to herself. "I'm sure," she replied while she got comfortable. No more was said between the two and Emily found comfort in that silence. It allowed her to calm her racing thoughts and prep herself for whatever the night might bring.

They arrived at the club, another one that he owned which wasn't really a surprise, quicker than she expected. She followed Frost through a back door and down a hallway, her nerves vibrating as they got closer to a door at the end of the hallway. Frost gave a quick knock before opening the door and escorting Emily into the room, an empty room. "Are you serious," she asked irritably but when she turned around Frost was nowhere to be seen so she stood alone surveying the room. It was cleanly decorated. Black carpets and grey walls with abstract art gracing strategically placed. There was a pool table in one corner and what looked like a fully stocked mini bar at the other end of the room. She walked up to the back of the large leather couch and ran her hand over the material. She then noticed the wall that the couch was facing and she realized that she could see out into the crowd. The bar in the club must have been positioned in front of the window, she could see people sitting out there waiting for their drinks and beyond them, people dancing to music that she was unable to hear. She stepped closer to the wall and gently placed her hand on the glass, getting lost in her thoughts while she felt the vibrations of the music.

"They can't see you," a familiar voice resonated from behind.

She spun around, proud of herself that she didn't scream and he almost looked slightly disappointed. "Stop doing that," she ground out.

"Looks like I'll have to wait 'til later to hear you scream," he stated, disregarding her request. He watched as her eyes followed his every move as he moved next to her. Starting at her feet, his eyes roamed up her bare, nicely toned legs, over her cleavage and stopped when their eyes met. He hummed in approval. "Well sweets, I said pretty and you didn't disappoint."

Her ego did a happy dance and she mentally scolded herself. His opinion on her appearance shouldn't mean anything. "So," she began, "what's the plan?" She tossed her wristlet onto the couch and placed her hands on her hips. _Keep the ball in your court._

"Plan? I say we roll with the punches and see where the night takes us," he responded. He clapped his hands together and began walking over to the bar. "How about a drink." It was a statement, not a question so she figured she had no choice but to accept. She followed him over and asked for a jack and coke while she eyed up the pool table. "Care to play a game? Let's make a bet. Person who loses owes the other a favor." His grin was downright evil.

She made sure to keep her smile on the inside. _What a dick._ He clearly thought he would have the upper hand but she was actually pretty good and could probably give him a run for his money. She was confident that there was a chance that he'd owe her a favor, not like he would keep his side of the bargain but it would be one more move to keep the ball in her court. So she did what any girl would do when trying to boost a man's ego, she played dumb. "Do I have a choice? I've only played a few times," she let her voice drop off pretending to be nervous.

"Perfect," he laughed. "Let's play." He placed her drink in her hand guided her to the table.

"You can go first," she hedged, pretending that she couldn't break first. She listened to him laugh and watched as he positioned himself at the end of the table. She couldn't help but notice how attractive he looked right then and there. He was oozing confidence, much like always but there was something about him tonight, like he had a trick up his sleeve and he couldn't wait to boast about it. His green hair glowed underneath the light hanging over the table and he almost looked like an apparition. The sudden cracking noise from the balls hitting off of each other shook her from her thoughts. She took note that he had sunk three stripes before messing up. She took her time picking a cue stick, once again feigning ignorance before taking her spot at the table. It just so happened that he was standing right next to her for her first shot which she easily sunk. He watched as she straightened up and gave him a big smile. "Lucky shot," she said with a wink.

xxxxxxx

The game went on and it had come down to the last shot. They had kept up with each other and if he made this shot he'd win. Once again, she noted how attractive he was when he focused in on something so intensely. It seemed like no matter what he did tonight it emphasized everything about his being. She held her breath when he made his move. Her eyes followed the ball and she watched as it knocked the eight ball closer to the left corner pocket. It hit the corner in an awkward way and the ball stopped short of the pocket and she internally squealed.

"Good try J," she patronized. She wasn't sure why but she decided to be extra in the moment. She slowly bent over to line up her stick, making sure that her cleavage was on display. He was clearly irritated that he hadn't made his shot, that much was obvious from his stance; base of the stick planted on the floor, hands placed on the end of it with his chin resting on his hands, eyes squinted and his lips in a straight line. She gave a wink, called the pocket and stood with a smile as the eight ball fell in easily. "Well J," she started proudly, "I'll let you know when I need that favor."

He stood up and tossed his stick on the table before slowly cracking his neck. A small part of her began to think that maybe being cheeky wasn't the way to act at the moment. Her hand tightened around the stick as he stalked closer, not like it would do a whole lot but at least it could give her a chance.

"Look at you sweets, wonder what other tricks you have up your sleeve," he chuckled, alleviating some of her nerves.

She looked up at him with her own smile. "I can't have you winning all the time."

"So!" He exclaimed with a clap of his hands. The sudden outburst caused Emily to flinch which gave Joker great joy. "I'm gonna get you another drink and then I say it's time for me to get to know you better."

Emily laughed at him as he walked back over to the bar. Not only for the fact that there wasn't much to share about herself but at how normal he sounded. She preferred his manic states, hell even his irate states, she found those to be the normal that she was getting used to.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Emily had knocked back her third drink and she was starting to feel a solid buzz. Then again, the third drink he had made her was probably more jack than coke. She watched him as she answered his questions, he was ever so attentive. Like he was storing every word she said in the back of his head but laying below his attentiveness there was an underlying restlessness.

"J," she said cutting him off while she placed her glass on the coffee table. "You seem bored." All she got was a calculating stare as he leaned back into the couch. His lack of response pissed her off and she wasn't even sure why. She should have been happy that everything was going smoothly, but for some reason the normality didn't sit right. The idea that she wanted more chaos pulled her from her thoughts. _That's not good. The fuck is wrong with me?_ She shook her head, grabbed her purse and stood.

"Where do you think you're going," he asked evenly.

"Home. You're bored and now I'm bored." _Just make your way to the door,_ she thought to herself. _Stay calm, cool, and collected. You got this._ She was surprised that she managed to get as far as she did but before she could open the door all the way a pale hand whizzed by and slammed it shut. She turned and met his gaze refusing to shrink away. "You said we'd have fun and we're clearly not at the moment so will you please let me leave?"

His cackle filled the room. "Ohhhhhhh sweets, you don't disappoint!" He placed both hands on the sides of her face. "I was hoping you'd say that. You get an A+!"

 _A test? What the fuck?_ She tried to formulate a sharp response but their noses were touching and his eyes were sucking her in.

"You ready to have some fun," he whispered. She nodded her head with no hesitation. "Then let's go have some fun," he growled in delight. The next thing she knew, he was pulling her along and she found herself back in the SUV sitting shotgun next to Joker. And though she was sitting next to the most dangerous man in town, she was excited.


	8. Chapter 8

I own nothing, just my OCs.

Thanks for coming back!

So this chapter has some violence and smut, you've been warned. As another warning, this is the first time I've written a lemon so go easy on me please. I'm practicing so hopefully you'll have some better lemons in the future.

Chapter 8

It didn't take long before Emily found herself in the seediest part of Gotham, the strip district. The strip was a few miles long lined with warehouses and normally Gotham's sketchy areas didn't bother her but this place was different. It looked normal in the day time, like any other industrial area but it was well known that most of these warehouses were connected to mobsters, to criminals one way or another. The excitement that had her heart racing was slowly turning into something else.

The car slowed to a stop in front of one of the buildings and Emily caught herself unconsciously making an escape plan. "J," she muttered, still assessing her environment, "what are we doing here?"

Joker placed the car in park and opened his door. "Why, we're here to have some fun!" He circled the car and opened her door. "You said you wanted to have some fun, and baby I never disappoint." His grin held amusement but also something sinister. He was doing his best to mask it but she could see it and she wasn't so sure about having fun anymore.

However, she couldn't exactly leave when her hand was in his and she was being dragged along behind him and into the building. The musky air and an odd scent assaulted her senses the moment they stepped through the door. She stopped in her tracks when her surroundings finally sank in and her heart froze for a beat. Joker hadn't realized that she had stopped and her stillness caused him to jerk. He took her in, smiling to himself. _She's smart_ , he thought to himself. Her body had tensed, her eyes alert as they scanned the large vats off to the left. She knew something wasn't right and it only caused him to smile wider. He stood beside her and placed his arm around her, settling on her waist. "Ace Chemicals. My home away from home," he chuckled while he ushered her along.

Try as she might, she couldn't calm her nerves. Everyone knew of his accident and everyone knew how Harleen Quinzel became the infamous Harley Quinn. Everyone also knew the weeks of torment Joker unleashed on Gotham when Harley decided to walk away, essentially leaving Joker in the dust. Apparently her time away gave her a new outlook on life.

"What are we doing here," she asked again, this time her voice barely above a whisper. He avoided her question and continued to guide her further into the warehouse. She released a breath that she didn't even know she was holding as they passed the vats completely.

While she was breathing in relief, Joker was gleefully dancing on the inside. He couldn't wait to reveal his surprise and see how everything would unfold. She made it this far, would she continue on or would he have to kill her tonight? He finally stopped and they stood in front of a large sliding metal door. He released her hand and opened the door as if it was made of paper and shoved her inside.

The warehouse itself was dimly lit and the room she stumbled into was pitch black so when the harsh florescent lights snapped on, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. There in the middle of the room sat a man, tied to a chair, bloody and disheveled. She wasn't sure it was possible but her eyes opened wider when she realized who was sitting in the chair. Though that particular night was total chaos, she could never forget the men who surrounded her that night at the club and there one sat practically pissing himself. It was the first night that she had met Joker. And the man in the chair instantly recognized her as he began to struggle against his binds. She couldn't stop her voice from shaking as she spun towards J. "What the fuck is going on?!"

"I'm sharing my second favorite activity in the world with you," he exclaimed. He flipped his suit jacket to the side and pulled out a gun which caused two things to instantly happen. One, the man in the chair began to frantically struggle and two, Emily spun on her heels and propelled herself towards the exit.

Two strong arms wrapped around her midsection and effortlessly spun her back around. "Ah, ah, ah. You said you wanted to have some fun so we're gonna have some fun!" He released her, making sure he stood between her and the door.

"I don't want to be here," she shrieked. His hand shot out and Emily let out a gasp as he grabbed a fist full of hair and wrenched it back.

"Don't lie to yourself. And," he tugged again, "don't," another tug, harder this time, "you ever," with his grip still tight, he rested his forehead against hers. "Ever, lie to me."

"Please," she begged, closing her eyes tight. She felt his lips touch slightly below her eyes, catching a few stray tears. Emily slowly opened her eyes and watched as he licked his lips. He let out a slight moan, as if her tears were a delicacy he was trying for the first time. Her stomach clenched and she refused to believe that it was due to anything but disgust.

He pulled back and released her hair. "Tell me, Emily. Why do you care about him? He stood by and helped that night at the club. What do you think was going to happen, hmm?" He took a second to scratch his temple with his gun. "Possibly a beating? Rape? Some more beating? Murder? Probably all three," he explained calmly as if he was explaining a math equation.

"But you stopped it, you killed the one guy, you made your point!" Her voice remained an octave above terrified, something that she could no longer control. "You can't. just. kill. people!"

"Oh, but I can."

"No, you're not God-"

"I AM BIGGER THAN GOD," he bellowed, effectively shutting her up. "Everyone has an expiration date and I get to be the one to decide it!" His roar caused her blood to run cold and more tears to form. He slowly moved himself right in front of her and brushed the stray strands of her hair out of her face. "Shhh," he cooed. "It's alright," he whispered, gently turning her to face the nameless man in the chair. He stood behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder, grinning at the scene before him. "Besides," he took her right hand, "I'm not going to kill him, you are."

She jumped and tried to pull away but he roughly shoved the gun in her hand and placed both of his hands on her hips. He tightened his grip to the point where it was painful, almost too painful. She shook her head, not trusting her voice. _No, no, no, no!_

"Don't forget Emily, my sweets, I own you," he growled. "I'm cashing in and I've decided it's time you helped clean up your own mess."

Full body tremors were racking her body and she couldn't see through the tears that were flooding her vision. "I can't," she sobbed.

Joker ghosted his hands from her shoulders down to her hands. Her fear was intoxicating and he loved every bit of it. He gathered her left hand and cupped it around her right, now both hands were clasped around the gun. Ever so slowly he helped raise her arms, gun now level with the man squirming in the chair. Joker's eyes met the man's and he let out a cheshire grin. He had momentarily forgotten about the man, whose presence was pretty insignificant. Joker didn't really care if this man had anything to do with Emily or not, he could have nabbed anyone off of the streets. But, he figured that she'd be more likely to crack if it was someone who had wronged her sitting in that chair. And boy was she about to crack, he could feel it in his bones. "Shoot him."

His words ghosted over her ear and it only reminded her of the nightmare she was currently standing in. She gritted her teeth and refused to answer, refused to shoot. This wasn't her, she was many things and she had been called many things, some of them not so favorable but she wasn't a murderer. However, his next words knocked her of kilter. "If you don't, I'll shoot your pretty head too." Self-defense didn't make you a murderer, did it?

"You're a liar," she hiccupped.

He whipped another gun out of nowhere and aimed it at her temple. "I'm anything but, sweets. You have ten seconds, go."

Time standing still is an odd feeling. She could feel the static in the air, the blood rushing, drumming in her ears and her breathing sounding as if someone had put a movie in slow motion. Joker's voice was faded but she could hear him counting down, he was at seven already but when he hit five the first shot rang out, hitting the man in the shoulder. Somewhere in the universe, someone hit fast forward.

"Again," Joker barked sternly and Emily shot again, this one embedded in his knee. She had no aim, she was shooting blind. "Again," he growled. "Again, again, again, again!"

His commands had gone silent and the only noise she registered was clicking, the chamber finally empty. The sight in front of her was straight from a horror movie, blood everywhere, a man slumped over to the side, eyes rolled so far back only the whites were showing. She threw down the gun with a strangled sob of disgust and turned to face her tormentor and it was then that she realized she was staring at the barrel of a gun. "Y-y-you, you promised," she whispered with defeat covered words.

"I didn't promise shit," he replied. His face was ever so serious and for the first time since knowing him she was 100% terrified for her own life. She slammed her eyes shut when he cocked the gun and waited for the inevitable.

The round went off, she was sure of it but all she felt was a flick on her forehead. _Am I dead?_ Surely she had to be, maybe all she felt was minimal because she died before registering any pain. She felt numb but she could her feel chest move along with her ragged breaths, she could feel the sweat dripping down the sides of her face. _Do I need to breath,_ she thought to herself. Ever so slowly she opened her eyes and they widened in disbelief. The flick she felt was real alright, because that's all that it was. In front of her, sticking out from the barrel of the gun, was a tiny banner waving about with one word, _BANG._

"Bang," she whispered. "BANG?!" Her whisper was now a full blow shriek mixed in with his laughing. Fury. She had never felt pure fury before but it was red hot and it only grew with his cackling. She swiftly slapped his hand away from her and he let the gun fall to the floor.

"Come on sweets," he cooed. "You didn't really think I'd kill ya, didya? I'm proud of ya, I didn't think you'd pull through." His patronizing words pushed her over the edge, he knew they would but he didn't expect her to retaliate physically.

The sound of her fist connecting with his mouth was music to her ears and she reveled in the feeling. Her knuckles were smeared with some blood and the adrenaline coursing through her veins gave her such a high that when he turned around seemingly un-phased, it pushed her harder. She lunged at him, fists flailing into his chest. "You fucking piece of shit!" Her words turned into animalistic shouts and grunts with every blow she landed on his chest.

He allowed her to vent some frustration before he had finally had enough of her tantrum. He grabbed her wrists in a blink of an eye and trapped them against his chest. He smirked as she tried to pull free. Her anger was beautiful and now that she had stopped crying he saw a hint of craze coloring her eyes, those beautiful hazel eyes that belonged to him. He let go long enough for him to fling his jacket off and swiftly crashed his lips against hers.

Emily struggled to get free, the copper tang invaded her senses as his tongue infiltrated her mouth, a foreign object that she didn't want anywhere near her, let alone in her mouth. She remained unresponsive, trying to picture herself anywhere but there, but his impatient growl startled her back to the present. He slammed her back into the cold cement wall, her eyes flew open and she gasped in surprise and pain. She was met with his eyes and it felt like she was drowning. His eyes, it was always his eyes that held some type of power over her that she didn't understand. She bit her lip to hold back her response when he grinded into her, his prominent erection making itself known and all bets were off.

He knew the moment she surrendered and without a second thought his lips were on her lips. Her arms found their way around his neck and she responded in fervor. He trailed sloppy kisses along her jaw while his hands roughly made work of hiking her dress up around her waist. To his delight he found that she had forgone underwear. "That's my girl," he groaned against her neck causing her to smile at his praise. She hummed in delight when she felt him grip her ass in both hands, pulling her to meet his covered member. She tangled her hands in his hair and roughly tugged so that they were kissing once again.

Her heartbeat quickened when his hand trailed to her front and gently traced her sex. He grinned, feeling that she was already wet and plunged two fingers inside. Emily's mouth fell open and she moaned as his fingers pumped in and out, in and out, in and out at a steady pace. Her hips began to thrust, searching for that something extra to push her to her finish. She was almost there but just as quickly as they entered her, his fingers left her leaving her empty and wanting.

His eyes were staring at her mouth so intensely, like he was ready to devour them. He brought his fingers that were covered in her juices and gently smeared it against her parted lips. His tongue traced the path his fingers just left and she thought she would explode. The whimper of need that left her reminded Joker that he wasn't finished so he quickly spun her around.

Her chest had just met the wall and she barely had time to brace herself before he roughly slammed into her. Her scream was music to his ears. "That's it sweets, scream for daddy," he growled. Her eyes rolled back as the tension coiled tighter inside her, ready to burst.

"Please, J," she cried out as her hips met his thrust for thrust. He rammed into her even harder, he was nearing his end.

"Who owns you," he asked, punctuating each word with a thrust.

She didn't have enough resolve to play back, she wanted her release and it was so close she could practically taste it. "You do," she shouted.

"Fucking right, I do."

With one more thrust she was seeing stars and screamed out in ecstasy. He wasn't finished with her yet and he continued to fuck her through her orgasm, her body so sensitive that she was near tears. His movements became jerky and soon he was roaring as he pulled out and exploded, semen shooting out all over her ass.

He bent over her, forehead resting on her back, both gasping for air. When it seemed like Joker got himself under control he nipped her shoulder causing her to giggle. He straightened out and Emily heard him pull up and zip his pants. Her ass was still sticking out and she could feel his seed drying over her skin. Joker readjusted her dress and gave her ass a playful slap causing her to yelp and jump up to attention.

"Let's go sweets," he said while throwing an arm around her shoulder. He began to lead them to front of the warehouse all the while Emily had a dopey grin plastered on her face.

She was high, she had to be because she knew what she had just done. What she had just done in a room where she had done an unthinkable act. She knew but she refused to look back, she was clinging to this high that was tingling through her limbs. Tomorrow, tomorrow she could wake up and find a reason to excuse her actions. Tomorrow she could wake up and be thoroughly disgusted with herself. But for now, she couldn't wipe the smile from her face and she didn't really want to anyway.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry for the long wait! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and it makes up for the lack of updating. Thanks to everyone reading and following the story. I really appreciate it! Reviews are always welcome!

Once again, I do not own anything DC. I simply claim my own OCs

Chapter 9:

The morning after, the sun was shining and Emily could hear people enjoying what was probably a lovely autumn day. She, however, stayed in bed wishing that the sun would go away and that the gray clouds would roll in and swallow her whole. She had woken up with a massive headache and in the clothes from last night. She had promptly ripped off the clothes, cringing the entire time and ran to the bathroom naked, not caring if Jim was home or not.

Her skin had turned red while she stood under the falling water but she didn't feel the burning temperature, no all she could feel was the roughness of the washcloth that she was furiously using to scrub her skin raw. When she deemed herself clean, she paused for just a second to let her thoughts barrel through like a freight train. She looked down at the washcloth in awe when she realized that she wasn't scrubbing away the entire night's events, no, she was only trying to rid herself of the one thing that disgusted her most and that was the blood that was now on her hands.

She gave out what could only be described as a mix of a sob and a humored grunt. She felt guilty for killing, that made sense, but she didn't regret the other activities that happened in that damp warehouse room. Joker had fucked her in front of a dead man, a man she had killed not even five minutes beforehand. And she let him, she enjoyed it, enjoyed it so much that just thinking about it caused her to bite her lip as a chill ripped through her body. She could practically feel his hands resting on her hips, feel them ghost along her stomach, feel his fingertips graze underneath her breasts, feel them roughly grab her breast.

"Nope!" She quickly pushed those thoughts aside as she got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. "You're sick, Emily. Absolutely sick," she muttered on her way to the room. She quickly threw on some sweat pants and raggedy tank top before grabbing her phone and quickly unlocking it. She called the club, knowing full well that Craig wasn't there yet, and left a message that she couldn't make it to work because she was _sick._

She crawled back into bed and wrapped herself tight in her blankets and her disgust.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The next morning came too fast and Emily let out a low groan as she swung her legs over the bedside. Her night had been terrorized with nightmares, nightmares full of a dead man staring her down with eyes that, for belonging to a dead man, looked very much alive. Alive and angry. She shuffled her way into the kitchen, the smell of coffee luring her to join the land of the living.

"There she is," Jim said from the kitchen table. His smile faded when all he received in return was a barely there smile, her eyes not even reaching his own. He slowly stood, he wasn't sure why but he had an odd feeling that she would find any quick movements to be startling. He gently placed his hand on her back and gently turned her body so that they were facing each other. "What's wrong?"

Emily allowed his hand to guide her face so that she was looking into his eyes. She gave a shaky smile, touched that he was always concerned. "I'm fine," she replied quietly.

"Did something happen at work?"

"No, no. I'm just not feeling well, honest."

His brow furrowed a bit but he accepted her answer for now. "You'd tell me if something was going on, right?"

"Of course," she stated with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. She had to bite back the awful taste that the lie left in her mouth. It took a moment but he seemed to be satisfied with her answer and he retreated back to the table to grab his coffee.

"You going to work today," he asked innocently enough.

Emily took a sip of her coffee while contemplating the notion. Could she stomach the idea of going to work? Stomach the idea of seeing _him_ and knowing that he could control her so easily? _No,_ she thought suddenly with a quick shake of her head. The very idea that he could bend her no matter how hard of a fight she put up shook her core. _I'll just have to fight harder, that's all_. Even her inner voice wavered. _Just great._

"Emily?" His deep voice pulled her from her inner sulking.

"Uhm, I don't know. I'll give it a few hours to see how I'm feeling."

"Want to watch some TV? Maybe find an old movie to watch?" He asked, hopefully. He knew one of the ways to her heart was through older movies, the classics.

"Black and white?" She quirked an eyebrow in suspicion. He hated those kind of movies and she knew that unless she specified he would settle on any movie that he deemed "classic".

"Fiiiiiine," he let out followed by a smile. He headed to the living room, motioning for her to follow.

The movie had ended and for the first time since the "incident," that was what she decided to refer to it as, she felt ok. Then again, what problem could Carey Grant not fix? She was mindlessly staring at the TV as Jim flicked through the different channels. When he stopped on the local news, she almost threw up her frantic heart. Staring back at her were the eyes of a man who had haunted her dreams the night before. The news reporter talking in the background just sounded like white noise while Emily focused on his picture. They say dead men tell no tales but right now, his eyes were screaming the truth right in her face.

Immediately, saliva began to gather and her mouth began to tingle. Like lightening she flew to the bathroom and violently began to retch. The vomit bouncing off the toilet water and onto her face only fueled her disgust. Her body heaved trying to expel her guilt, the burning in her throat was cathartic in a sense. She gagged a bit on the last of the bile that came up before finally resting her head on the cool surface of the toilet seat. As disgusting as that action was, she didn't have enough in her to give a shit. In the background, she could hear Jim talking to someone, she heard something about not being able to come into work and that it wasn't anyone's fucking business as to why she couldn't make it to work. Even though Jim's actions would be something that she'd have to deal with, she was glad that calling of work was one thing she didn't have to do anymore.

XXxXxXxXxXx

An insignificant noise dragged her from her terror filled sleep. In the darkness of her room, Emily fumbled with her phone to check the time. "Shit," she mumbled as 2:32am lit up her screen along with four missed calls from Craig, one from a number that she didn't recognize and several texts from said number. She tossed her phone onto the other pillow, ignoring it all.

She had curled into bed after her early date with the toilet and planned on taking a nap for a few hours. Apparently a nap meant eight hours and even though it was the equivalent of a full night's sleep, she still felt as if her body was fighting against a heavy current.

She stretched her body in a catlike manor, readjusted her blankets and closed her eyes, fully intending to add another eight hours to her "nap." However, the moment her eyes closed, the noise that had woke her up started up again. It was somewhere, possibly the kitchen, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. It sounded almost like a...

"Blender," she mumbled. "What the fuck is he doing," she asked aloud to herself. Emily was curious now and she clearly wouldn't be able to answer her own question, so she sat up and turned the lamp on. She was not expecting to actually get an answer.

"Making a smoothie," a deep voice grumbled from her left.

Sudden panic filled her entire body as she scrambled to the other side of the bed. Her ear piercing scream was cut short when her hand slipped from the bed and her whole body toppled off the bed. She cried out in frustration when her legs wouldn't untangle from the sheets despite her effort in trying to kick them free. A cold hand clapped over her mouth none too gently causing her to freeze.

"There's that scream," the voice hummed. It took a moment but the pieces finally fell into place and she turned her head upwards so she could see him. Laying across her bed and over the side so that his arm would reach her was Joker. She pulled his hand off and quickly sat up.

"What the fuck are you doing," she asked, her breathing heavy and heart still racing.

"Aww, sweets. You hurt me!" In his true dramatic fashion, he rolled over on his back and let his head hang off the bed so that he was looking at her upside down. "My sweets calls off work two nights in a row and you think I wouldn't pop in for a visit?" His tone was anything but sweet and the underlying irritation caused her to bite her lip nervously. He watched as her nervous habit gave her away and his trademark grin dissolved into a flat line. With grace that no man should have, he made his way so that he was standing in front of Emily with a hand held out waiting for her to take it.

She slowly stood up, declining his helping hand but never taking her eyes off of it. She needed something to focus on while her legs shook. His hand quickly grabbed a hold of her chin and forced her face up to look up at him. "So tell me sweets, you wouldn't be avoiding me now? Hmm?"

"No," she whispered quickly. She wasn't sure why she was whispering but it was the only volume that she could provide. His eyes were still burning a hole right through her and she began to squirm, trying to pull herself free. The movement only had him grip harder, there would definitely be bruises tomorrow. "I, I, I've been sick."

"Sick or upset?"

"Both," she whispered again, her eyes looking down in shame? Embarrassment? Weakness? It was then she realized that she afraid of his disapproval. She wanted to be strong for him. _What the fuck,_ she screamed internally. Tears began to gather, much to her dismay but she heard Joker coo at her. His grip lessened as he guided her to sit on the bed.

"Tell daddy what's wrong," he stated while he sat down beside her on the bed. Not a question at all, he was quietly demanding an explanation.

"He won't leave me alone!" She whimpered, clutching his arm. "His eyes keep staring at me when I sleep, when the news is on, I can't get his face out of my head!"

Her hysterics, though mildly amusing, were getting on his nerves. He gave her credit for not completely cracking, no, it was much too early for that. He would have to nip this in the bud, he wasn't finished with her yet.

Emily's head snapped to the side as the back of his hand met her face, painfully. Her crying immediately stopped and she slowly turned her head so that she was looking at him again. _What did I do,_ she asked herself in complete confusion. _He asked what was wrong, what did I do,_ she asked again while she placed her hand on the cheek he struck. She opened her mouth but words didn't get a chance to come out as his hand landed on her face again. Same cheek, twice the pain. "What was that for?!"

"Because you're whining," he growled, shooting to his feet. "You're crrryyyyinnng," he mimicked, "over someone who isn't real anymore!"

"Not real," she whispered. "Not real?" Now it was a scream.

Joker took a second to let a smirk sneak onto his face. There she was, he didn't know why but making her angry was becoming a favorite past time. The fire in her eyes made his dick twitch and slowly his smirk turned into a full blown smile. "That's right sweets, not real."

Emily felt like her head was about to explode. This man was unreal, _so fucking unreal!_ "He is real!"

"Is?"

His challenge caused her to fumble over her words. "Was," she muttered in reply. She jumped when he clapped his hands in her face.

"That's right sweets! Was. Was real, as in no longer. You killed him, you turned him from an "is" to a "was." Embrace it sweets, stop lying to yourself!" He looked into her eyes and he knew. He knew he had her, any time she looked into his eyes the way she was looking into them now, he knew he had her. The fight she put up was entertaining but knowing that despite her fight, he could do anything that he wanted. And he always did what he wanted and he always got what he wanted.

Emily studied him from where she was sitting on the bed as he took a few steps towards her, their knees now touching. Her heart rate picked up, her body knew something was in the works but her brain hadn't caught up yet. She drew in her bottom lip which caused Joker to chuckle. A chill crept up her spine the way a spider would creep up a wall.

"Emily, Emily, Emily," he taunted. "My sweets," he said with a grin as he placed he cupped the back of her neck. "I'm real. More real than you could be possibly understand. Do you want daddy to fix it? Make it all better?"

"Please," she answered back. Her eyes widened as his other hand grabbed his crotch. "Make him go away," she pleaded softly. She let out a squeak when he yanked her forward, her knees now on the ground, face level with his crotch.

"Ohhhhhhh don't you worry sweets," he said with a maniacal grin. "I'm gonna fuck that mouth of yours so hard you'll only be able to think about one thing." He worked on his belt buckle and flung it across the room. "No more nightmares, no more calling in sick, no more crying over spilled milk. Tell me, who's going to be the only one to take up space in that pretty little head of yours?"

"You are."


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry it's been forever! Life's been crazy lately and I'm especially sorry to those of you who I gave a time frame of when I'd update. It's clearly well after that but all I can say is that the outside world caught up with me and has been keeping me very busy. Thank you for sticking with me, you have no idea how much that means to me! I hope you'll like this chapter since you've waited so long.

Once again, I don't anything or anyone besides my own characters.

Chapter 10:

She wasn't sure why but after that night, much to her surprise, Joker told her that she could take off the next two days. She wasn't sure what his angle was and she knew that he'd be looking to be repaid at one point or another but she was somewhat grateful. The morning after his impromptu visit she had woken up alone and shivering. She wasn't sure when her clothes disappeared or when she ended up face first on her mattress or when he started to pound into her relentlessly. The bruises on her hips and the ache between her legs were proof that all of the events actually happened. The one thing that she was sure of was that all of the above put a smile on her face while she mindlessly stared at the ceiling.

When she did show up to her shift, she slipped in hoping to blend in without having anyone notice her presence. She made eye contact with Craig which was the only acknowledgement that she received and she was grateful that it didn't shine a spotlight on her, the last thing she wanted was attention.

"You know," came a whisper to her right, "you should really learn how to cover those bruises better."

Emily slowly turned her head to look at Larissa. _What the fuck, again? Every time?_

"Don't look at me like that," Larissa whispered, eying the bruise.

"What does it matter," Emily grumbled. This was not how she wanted to start her shift.

"I'm just saying, from one woman to another, if one asshole sees that another asshole treats you like shit then he'll think he can too," Larissa explained with a shoulder shrug. She took another look at Emily, deciding whether or not she should continue. Whatever reason she was looking for, she found it. "Look, I know we aren't friends. Fuck, we barely talk but we have something in common." Emily tried to discreetly scan over Larissa's face but her effort was apparently weak. "Just because you can't see them," she stood with a sigh, "doesn't mean they aren't there. My asshole just has the decency to know where to hit."

Emily watched as she walked away, not knowing how to feel about Larissa or her actions. She had talked as if she was talking about the weather. In the past, before her plunge into this rabbit hole, she would have been more empathetic, sympathetic, anything really. But now? Sure she felt like maybe Larissa and her were kindred spirits but Larissa was so apathetic about her own situation.

 _Is that what I'll be like one day_ , she thought to herself. She didn't even get a chance before another voice popped up.

 _No,_ this voice whispered. It was her voice but not her voice?

 _You don't know that, I already don't feel-_

 _NO,_ the other voice shouted, causing Emily to squeeze her eyes shut. _You don't care about_ _ **her**_ _, you don't feel anything when it comes to_ _ **her**_ _story, there's a difference._

 _That doesn't even make sense!_

 _Ohhh Emily, silly little Emily,_ the voice mocked. _You care about you. You care about him. If he's not treating you like a queen, if he's not treating you like shit, you care._

 _He's never treated me like a queen! Never,_ she shouted at herself. Was it herself? The voice sounded like her own but underneath it there was a chilling difference. She sat down in the chair, elbows resting on her knees, head in hands. The need to rub her temples too great.

 _Never? By whose standards? Yours or his?_ This caused her to pause for a moment, she didn't have a reply. _Do you think he'd still have you around?_

The weight of a large hand on her back caused her to jump back in her seat. "Christ, Craig," she shouted. "How about a warning!"

Craig took a look at her, a real good look. From her face to her tense shoulders, to her hands white-knuckling the arms of the chair, to her legs and feet that were positioned just right in case she had to make a run. _He's sure doing a number on this kid,_ he thought to himself. "I said your name, need to give you your sections for the night."

Emily gave a loud sigh and relaxed her body. _You're ok Em, you're ok._ "Shit, I'm sorry Craig. It's been a long couple of days, being sick and all. Just a headache," she lied to prevent any questions being asked. "But yea, uhm what am I working?"

"Private party," he simply said. He noticed how her body stiffened again. "Not like the last time, different people. Larissa's going to be helping you out, she's waiting for you at the bar...you sure you're alright?"

"Yea Craig," she stood up and rolled her shoulders. "I'll see you around."

"See ya later girly." She gave him a smile, a genuine smile which caused himself to smile a little. He watched as she walked out of the room, hopefully tonight wouldn't end so badly.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Emily quickly made her way to the bar where Larissa was already spitting out drink orders. "What's it look like?"

"There's nine of them, one more is coming. Doesn't look too bad. The usual seedy looking men, Gotham's finest," Larissa snorted.

"Great," Emily mumbled accompanied with an eye roll. "I thought you said there would be ten total," she mentioned in confusion as she began placing the many drinks on her tray.

"What can I say? They're ordering drinks in advance?"

The girls worked in silence and quickly made their way towards the staircase that led to the private area. Emily had to take a few deep breaths, scenes from her previous experience up there popping into her head. _You're ok,_ she whispered in her head. As they reached the top and got closer to the room, that all too familiar unease began to sprinkle over her body and deep into the pit of her stomach. _Fuck, fuck, fuck._

"Hey gentleman," Larissa said with, what Emily could only assume, an over the top smile. "Here ya go," she paused a second to start unloading the drinks, "this here is Emily. We'll be working together." There were murmurs of acknowledgement as Emily stepped from behind and started passing out drinks. She tried her hardest to avoid eye contact with him, but she could feel his stare penetrating her very being. How Larissa could act as if a nobody was sitting before them blew her mind. Even after all this time, he still had the ability to make her feel nervous. Well, he made her feel many things.

"We'll be back to check on you gentlemen in a few," Larissa said with a smile and a wink. Emily gave her own smile sans the wink, she had never been good at those. They had turned to leave and she thought she was in the clear.

"Sweets," his voice stopped her dead in her tracks. He hadn't shouted, just simply spoke. His voice had that much power over people. It was deep and all things velvet and when he spoke it demanded an audience. "Do me a favor and hold back for a sec."

Both girls stopped and when Larissa turned, she locked eyes with Emily. She could feel Larissa's eyes surveying the bruise before a brief flicker of understanding passed between the two. She gave Emily a barely noticeable nod before turning back and walking out of the room.

Taking a deep breath, Emily sat her tray on a nearby table and turned around to see Joker, legs spread and arms stretched across the back of the seats. A cocky smirk graced his pale face and once again, the uneasy feeling spread throughout her body. Except nowadays, the unease was followed with another feeling, a feeling of fire spreading throughout.

He reached out a hand and curled his finger, commanding her to come closer. "Men, this right here is my one and only, sweets." He patted the space beside him indicating that he wanted her to sit. "Say hi to my sweets."

Emily barely paid attention to the grumbles of acknowledgement from the men sitting around the room. She instinctively snuggled into his side, confused as to why he wanted her there. Apparently some of the men were just as confused.

"I thought we were here to discuss business, J. What's she doing here," a burly man sitting across from them asked while sipping on his whiskey. _Good question,_ she thought to herself.

"Why she's my partner in crime," his arm pulled her in closer, "I needed you men to meet her," he finished as if it were obvious.

"Partner?" Another man asked.

"She's been helping my clean up, who do you think took care of Sal's muscle man?" Emily's head snapped to the side so she could fully look at him. What the fuck was he doing? "It took a little bit of persuasion but she executed beautifully," he explained further while his stare bore into hers. She bit her lip trying to contain her urge to kiss him. She somehow figured he wouldn't appreciate the sentiment in front of his partners.

Some of the men looked mildly impressed but the burly man, who she nick-named Mr. Burly, didn't look it at all. "What's it to us?"

"Great question," Joker exclaimed. Faster than the speed of light, or so it seemed, his hand grabbed her face yanking her forward a bit. His fingers were digging into the bruise he had left only days prior causing her to grit her teeth to avoid flinching. The stubborn part of her didn't want to give these men any sort of satisfaction. "See this face," he started as he shook her head a bit. "Remember it. Keep your eyes open because there should never be a pretty, pretty, pretty piece of hair out of place. Unless," he released her face, "I'm the one doing it. Got it?" His eyes scanned the room meeting everyone's eyes. When he was satisfied with their reactions he sat back in his seat, seemingly content.

Mr. Burly, however, wasn't content and felt the need to ruin the moment. "Great," he grumbled, "another Harley."

At the sound of the other woman's name, Emily's body instantly tensed. She knew he could feel her too, his body tensed just the same. Without warning his hand was entangled in her hair, yanking her head back causing a sharp gasp to escape her lips. His lips attacked hers with such force that her eyelids closed and her eyes rolled back, the pain and pleasure causing a little ball of ecstasy to build within her body. In the back of her head, she knew why he was claiming her in front of everyone. He was trying to soothe her doubts that instantly filled her mind when Mr. Burly spoke his mind. He tore away from her with a growl, smoothing down her hair where his hand had just occupied space.

"Be a good girl for daddy and go back downstairs," his voice was practically vibrating with irritation and Emily didn't want to stick around for the aftermath. She gave a quick nod and quickly made her way out of the room and down the stairs.

XXxXxXxXxXx

The rest of night went on as normal, or as normal as it could have gone. Emily and Larissa continued to work the private party, minding their own business and making sure to be quick with their service. Emily noticed that Mr. Burly was no longer in attendance and she wasn't even going to entertain any thought of where he went. The thoughts that did entertain the space in her head where swirling around the comment that Mr. Burly had made. Was she just a replacement? It would make sense to an extent but she certainly wasn't Harley, far from it. Well, as far as she was concerned. Was she a temporary replacement, was he waiting for Harley's return? Just because she left didn't mean that she'd stay gone forever. _What if, what if, what if. You'll drive yourself nuts._

She was in the back getting her stuff together when Larissa tapped her on the shoulder. "Let's get coffee," was all she said to Emily.

Emily nodded, she figured that Larissa would have questions. She was grateful that she had waited until after their shift to say anything. She grabbed her things and the two of them made their way outside and towards a dinner that was a few blocks away. Yes, Larissa would definitely have questions but how many could she answer? How many should she answer, want to answer. How could she go through this without letting her emotions run free? Larissa was now the only outside person who knew about her involvement with Joker. Could she contain herself now that she had all these doubts and questions floating around?

 _Well, I guess we'll see._


	11. Chapter 11

It's been awhile and for that I apologize! Life has a funny way of being a bother sometimes. Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with my story and thank you to new followers! I appreciate every reader!

Once again, I own nothing but my own OCs.

Chapter 11:

Emily and Larissa waited for their coffee in silence, not an awkward silence but more of a moment of silence in regards to another shift over and done. Emily took this time to really look over the girl across the table. Her platinum blonde hair was swept to the side, waves falling past her shoulder. She was no doubt pretty, beautiful even, if it weren't for the exhaustion lurking behind her blue eyes.

When their coffee was served, Larissa decided to break the silence. "So, your asshole happens to be the most dangerous asshole in Gotham," she began while she tapped her purple acrylic nails on the table. "You sure know how to pick 'em," she followed up with a snort and sip of her coffee.

"Yea, well, I wouldn't say I picked him," Emily mumbled in reply.

"But you stay."

Emily stared at Larissa as if she had two heads. "No shit, he isn't someone you just leave," she replied in exasperation. It took all of her self-control to not reach across the table and smack her when she rolled her eyes.

"Spare me," Larissa said, clearly not fazed by Emily's reaction. "You crave it, him. Besides, Harley left," she deadpanned.

"Jesus Christ! I'm sick of hearing about her!" Emily's shriek attracted the stares of the other late night patrons who had all turned their heads at the name of the former doctor. She was met by a confused stare, she had forgotten that Larissa wasn't there for that incident. "One of the men, he said I was just another Harley."

Larissa let out a loud bark of laughter. "Hate to break it to you honey, but you're no Harley..." Larissa's voice became static as Emily's attention was now directed on her thoughts. She wasn't sure why, but Emily couldn't help the fact that Larissa's comment had stung. She was well aware that she was no Harley. _No,_ she thought bitterly. _How could I ever be like his precious Harrrllleeeyyy?_ "Besides," Larissa continued, her voice had returned to Emily's attention. "He certainly doesn't treat you like her either."

"What the fuck does that mean," Emily groused, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"Jesus," Larissa laughed for the umpteenth time. "Rein in the jealously."

"I'-" Emily began but was swiftly cutoff.

"Stop," all laughter was gone, "you're jealous and he knows it. He'll use that. Every slap to the face, every kick to the ribs, he knows you'll take it because you're jealous. I get it, I do. I'm in the same boat, I take it because what happens when it's gone? If he's not slapping me around that means he's paying attention to someone else. And isn't that the kicker? We're jealous and smitten so we stick around. You don't want to be Harley? Good, don't be. Be you, show him that you're not her. You're the one on the other end of his violence, his affection. Not her, make sure you know the difference. Because if you don't, he won't either."

Emily lowered her eyes to the table, feeling too uncomfortable to look Larissa in the face. Her words were too accurate for Emily's taste. And by too accurate, Larissa was dead on. _Asshole,_ Emily thought to herself. _Why couldn't she just leave me alone? Noooooo, just had to start paying attention all of a sudden_. Her thoughts were laced with irritation and left a bitter taste her in mouth. When she finally shook away her pettiness, she met Larissa's stare. An air of understanding passed between the two and they finished their coffee in silence.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Emily relished the crisp air biting at her skin as she walked home. When she rounded the corner she spotted a black SUV and for some reason she wasn't surprised. Her first thought was to ignore them and just walk into the house. Jim wasn't home so she wouldn't be risking anything, like his life. But, she was tired and didn't feel like making a power move. No, she'd save that for later.

When she got closer to the car she could hear the hum of the passenger side window rolling down so she took that as a silent order. She peered inside only to see Joker sitting behind the wheel. "Where's your shadow," she asked in reference to Frost.

"He's working. Get in," Joker ordered while he started the car. He watched as she slid in effortlessly, her jacket sliding out of place as she turned her body to put her bag in the back seat, leaving her cleavage on display. They drove in silence before he spoke again. "So tell me sweets," his voice even and flat, "what good is a phone if you don't answer it?"

Her only answer was a silent "what the fuck" shown on her face.

"When I call, you answer. Got it," he growled.

Her fists instantly clenched in order to control her actions. She slowly turned her head and looked at him, really looked at him. It was only his profile, the bastard couldn't even be bothered to turn his head when he was _reprimanding_ her, no, his enchanting eyes not even looking at her face. "First of all, bite me." She watched as his grip on the wheel tightened, just a bit but enough to show that she was getting a reaction. If he was going to demand such things of her, he'd better put effort into it. "Second of all, I'm not one of your lackeys so I'll answer if I can or if I even fucking want to, _got it_ ," she bit out, mocking him in the process. She defiantly crossed her arms and turned her glare to the open road that they were flying down.

He snorted in amusement. "Sweets, you've got your claws out tonight. What's the occasion?"

 _Condescending asshole,_ she thought to herself. She wasn't sure why but she was more annoyed than usual so she remained silent.

 _You know why,_ her new found inner voice chimed in. _Even he knows why._

 _Shut up,_ Emily internally mumbled. _I didn't ask your opinion._

 _You don't have to, I'm helping for free._

Before she could respond she felt a jab on the side of her head. She turned to look at him only to get a finger poking her in the forehead. "What's going on in that pretty little head of yours," he asked while he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned towards her.

During her inner argument, she hadn't realized that the car was stopped, let alone stopped in front of ACE chemicals. She hadn't been back here since that night and her heart began to pound. Being here couldn't be a good thing. "Nothing," she whispered while she took in her surroundings much like the first time.

"Oh sweets, what has daddy said about lying? Hmm?" He watched as she focused on him once again and how she defiantly stayed silent. He let out a growl of frustration and displeasure before he got out of the vehicle. Her door was violently pulled open and in a similar fashion she was ripped out of the car.

She grunted in surprise as he dragged her along. She stumbled a bit while her feet were trying to catch up to his pace but just as she began to match his strides she stopped suddenly. Her abrupt halt caused Joker to fumble a bit, yanking her arm in the process. He noticed the grimace that formed but what really caught his attention was her heaving chest. _Exquisite,_ he thought. He dropped her hand and watched as her brain connected the dots. _So expressive._ It was amusing to watch. From her eyes to her lip that she would bite, her face gave everything away. Bad for her but good for him, he could practically see the light bulb flick on the moment it happened.

"What are we doing here," she croaked as if her throat was lined with sand. She cautiously eyed him up and down as he leaned against the railing of the metal staircase where they had stopped. The stairs led to a platform and the platform led to an edge and that edge led to nothing but a quick plummet into shit she didn't want to experience.

"I asked you a question first," he replied with a voice void of any emotion.

The fact that he had dragged her to this place only fueled her jealousy and fear of becoming a new Harley. "I'm not her," she whispered.

He leaned forward a bit and placed his hand to his ear. "I'm sorry, what was that? Gotta speak up sweets." Once again, emotionless.

"I said I'm not her!"

"And," he took a step closer, "there," another step, "it," another and he was looming over her, "is." He took a second to ponder his next move but she interrupted his train of thought.

"You already knew," she whispered, lip quivering like a small child. Her emotions were going haywire but she was trying to hold them back. His only response was a tattooed grin covering his mouth. She forcefully shoved him away, causing him to falter a bit. "I'm not her and I won't be!"

"Listen here sweets," he growled while he righted himself. She watched as he grew even bigger in size, an intimidation technique even though there was no need for that. No, now he was showing her who was boss, who would always be boss. "If I wanted another Harley, I would go and drag her ass back here by those goddamn pigtails." Without further warning, he snatched a fist full of Emily's hair and began to drag her up the metal stairs.

She grunted and shouted but it did no good. It was if he couldn't hear her, couldn't feel her nails digging into his fisted hand, and perhaps he couldn't. Emily tried to imagine how the inside of his brain worked, tried hard to imagine what it would be like to inside of him and the very thought terrified her. So much in fact that she stopped and never tried again. It wasn't until her face made contact with the grated platform that she realized she was closer to that nightmare than she ever thought she could be. Through the grate she stared down at the huge vats, steaming and bubbling and it was if the air in the room stopped. The heat was slowly rising, her body was trembling, and all she could hear was his maniacal laughter.


	12. Chapter 12

Hi everyone! Once again, it's been awhile and I do apologize. I recently moved and it took awhile for the internet to be set up among all sorts of other nonsense happening. Thank you to everyone who is still following my story and thank you to the new followers, I appreciate the support that you guys provide! A special thank you to those who have submitted reviews, they make my day and motivate my writing. This is a little shorter than I would have liked but I didn't want it to turn into a chapter of rambling. The next update will be up within the next two weeks, maybe sooner, I just need to add some things and do some editing.

*I don't own anything DC or anything slightly related to DC, I just own my OCs.

Chapter 12

"So tell me sweets," he hummed while he squatted beside her, "what's going through that pretty little head of yours now?" He took note of how the light from the chemicals made her eyes glow while she looked at him with wide doe eyes. Her body was trembling and her fingers were curled through the grate as if it would be enough to save her from all the things that go bump in the night. All things him.

While he studied her, she was too busy trying to not throw up. His question was beyond loaded, all the things going on in her mind were flying round and round like a tornado. Joker could tell that her thoughts were beginning to eat at her, it was a kindred recognition of sorts. And that recognition caused him to growl and pounce.

In a split second her fight or flight instincts kicked in but it was a split second too late. She gasped in pain as her fingers were ripped from their position, skin cracking open, blood now gathering. A grunt forced its way up her throat and out of her mouth as he threw her on her back, his body now caging her in. Joker slowly lowered his head and traced a path with his nose from her collar bone, up her neck, further up so that he brushed his nose against hers and finally stopping at her right ear.

The action made her shiver. _It's almost like he's smelling my fear,_ she thought as she forced herself to catch her breath. He gave her earlobe a light nip and another shiver ran through her body, this one much different than the first. Disgust bubbled up in her stomach as the all too familiar slow burn made her bite her lower lip. He knew the moment her feelings made a turn and she could feel his smile grow against her cheek. He lifted his head so that they were now nose to nose, his eyes silently demanding her to answer his previous question. "I'm not her."

"Ohhh sweets," he cooed while he sat up. He rocked his hips a bit, just because he could, in order to see her bite her lip while she tried to control her reactions. He chuckled darkly before he wiped away a few stray tears that had escaped earlier. "I know, daddy knows. Now tell me, before tonight, did these mean little thoughts trouble that pretty brain of yours before?"

She silently shook her head no and let out a huge breath once he pushed himself up and off of her. He lowered his hand and the gesture surprised Emily, he didn't seem to be in a helping mood but she took it quickly before he changed his mind. Quicker than she expected, she was on her feet and flush against his chest. With an arm placed across her back, close to her shoulders, and another around her waist, hand grabbing her ass, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Once again, Emily found herself surprised by his sudden gentle nature. _Something's wrong_ , she thought as he pulled away. Her spidey senses were tingling again and she stared into his eyes trying to figure out what he was planning.

"That just won't do, now will it," he asked quietly. His voice, she guessed, was meant to be calming but all it did was fire off alarms in her head. "We'll just have to fix that," voice still calm but the smile that slowly grew on his face was anything but calm. It radiated all things sinister. "FROST!"

His shout almost had Emily jumping out of her skin, and once again, the Joker that she had come to know was back. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Frost and another man walk out of the shadows, each man had a person in their grasp. Curiosity and confusion bubbled in her mind so she turned so that she could get a better look at what was happening. The man that frost had shoved forward was none other than Mr. Burly, from the club, and Emily's stomach began to churn. The person that the other henchman had shoved forward stumbled to the ground, their balance lost during the struggle to get away. Recognition slammed into Emily like a ton of bricks, she didn't even need to see their face, the purple nails provided enough confirmation. Acidic bile traveled up her throat like a racecar when Larissa's mascara stained face met hers.

Joker let out a short dark cackle before wrenching her head so that they were once again nose to nose. "Alright sweets," he purred followed by a quick kiss. "Let's fix this problem."


	13. Chapter 13

Hi everyone, here's the next chapter. Thank you for those still following and to the new followers as well. I appreciate the support more than you know!

Once again, a friendly disclaimer: I only own my OCs, I own nothing DC related or any material related to any comic universes.

Chapter 13:

"No."

Joker turned his head away from the two captives and eyed Emily up and down. He grunted out a chuckle and licked his cherry red lips. "Mmm, sorry sweets. Your answer is null and void," he groused.

"I don't care, I said no," she shot back as firmly as she could. Well, as firmly as one can sound while shaking like a leaf in the wind. His whooping laugh caused her to flinch. By the time their relationship ran its course, she'd probably no longer have a bottom lip to bite.

"Did you hear that, Frost?" The only noise following his question was his knee slapping throughout his laughter. He clearly didn't want an actual answer because, without wasting any time, his head snapped back to Emily. He let out a very pleased growl at her outward appearance. Her lip was between her teeth, eyes downcast in embarrassment but her fists were clenched and her shoulders were squared. A puppy trying to be a wolf. The thin smile morphed into a sneer and behind that sneer, a growl pushed its way through. "Tick-tock sweets, I'm a very busy man."

Emily slowly lifted her gaze, an ember behind her hazel eyes slowly started to gain some power. "You said you were God, now you say man. Which is it?" Her rhetorical question caused him to pause.

"Now is not the time to be a smartass," he barked as he made his way to her side and cupped the back of her neck.

"You said you were God, you do it," she snapped. Her eyes widened a bit, just a small bit, when he reached into his jacket and pulled out his gun. Her moment of victory was shattered in the mere seconds that it even existed. His pale hand snatched up her wrist, his fingers curled so tight that she was unable to make a fist. The cold feeling of metal registered in her brain, her body understanding that he had, once again, forced a gun in her hand. "It's not their fault," she muttered.

"Come again? You said that they put those mean little thoughts inside your pretty little head," his voice, which held the tone of a parent talking to a child, mocked.

"It's mine, it was always in my head." Realization struck hard and in that moment, she realized that she put the lives of two other people in jeopardy.

"Aww, would ya look at that! My sweets is all grown up, let's have a birthday party!" His maniacal laughter and excitement caused her to swallow down the uneasiness that was working its way up her throat. "You know what makes an excellent decoration," he asked, his voice now void of any emotion. "Blood."

"But she said it wasn't our fault!" The shrill shriek of a third party caused Emily to jump. Though they were the topic at hand, she forgot exactly who had joined them on the platform for a few minutes. She looked at Larissa, whose nose was running just as much as her mascara, and then back to Mr. Burly who stood stoically. Both were in equal amounts of danger yet they wore their fear differently. _I guess when you're life is on the line, dignity gets thrown on the back burner,_ Emily coldly thought to herself. Dignity. She seemed to lose some more and more with each shitty situation she found herself in with Joker.

"She isn't going to do shit," Mr. Burly decided to snort, which only fueled her anger.

 _Mother fucker, couldn't stay quiet could he,_ the voice in her head muttered. It seemed that this voice only liked to make itself known at the most inconvenient times. _But you're gonna do something, aren't you,_ it stated. Stated, not asked. It knew she would take action and now Emily knew what she was going to do. Maybe it wasn't so inconvenient after all.

She tightened her grip on the gun as she looked down at it. It was beautifully mastered, the purple and white theme decorated with intricately designed gold. It had to have cost a fortune to create. She could easily take aim and shoot Joker square in the face, he was close enough. Instead, she squared her shoulders and as gracefully as she could, strolled up to Mr. Burly. "I'm going to do plenty of shit," she spat out through gritted teeth, driving the point home by poking him in the chest with the gun. Ever so slowly she stood on her tip-toes so that her mouth was next to his ear. "You owe me for this," she whispered so quietly that, at first, she wasn't sure if he actually heard her whisper. When she came face to face with him again, his eyes held the confirmation that she needed.

Her body felt like molasses as she took a few steps back and turned back to Joker. He was grinning at her from ear to ear, his body humming with excitement. Her body began to hum with excitement too, or perhaps it was just nervous energy. Either way, she found herself smiling back at the man who had swept into her life like an unexpected tornado. In one quick gesture, a quick lift of her arm and a flick of her wrist, and the gun went flying over the edge of the platform. A splash could be heard from below where the chemicals caught the gun.

His tattooed smile now replaced his real smile while his other fist was clenched and shaking by his side. Humor had drained from his eyes and was replaced with ire and something she couldn't quite read. She knew she would pay for this, whether it was now or later, she was sure there would be consequences.

Sure she could have shot him dead right then and there, it would have been simple. But she was taking back her dignity and she was going to do all that she could to prove she wasn't some play thing. She might not be able to prove that she was his equal but she was going to try her hardest to do just that and he needed to be alive to see it happen.

 _Plus,_ the voice spoke up again, _you're not quite ready to quit him._


End file.
